Media Blitz

Interview by Ed Stuart

Who’s answering the questions?
 Jeff, I play drums.

Where is the band from?

We all live in Orange County, CA but live in different cities. Fountain Valley, Anaheim, and Fullerton.

Who is in the band and what do they play?

Jason Schwartz yells, Ryan Blank attempts to play bass, Eddie Oropeza shreds guitar and Jeff Salisbury plays drums.

What influences/bands did you have in mind when starting this band?

Media Blitz has been around for a long time and has gone through a ridiculous amount of line-up changes and has evolved sound wise. When the current line-up solidified, we wrote songs in the vein of New York hardcore bands such as Gorilla Biscuits, Cro-Mags, Shark Attack, etc. and many L.A./O.C. bands. Anything that is fast, aggressive and has a meaningful message. However we write music collaboratively, so influence comes from everywhere. I am often inspired by current bands that are dedicated and have incredible work ethics.

Do people who haven’t heard the band before think you sound like the Germs because of the name?

I'm not sure. All of us like the Germs. That's part of the reason why I pushed for us to keep the name Media Blitz after myself, Ryan, and Eddie joined the band. The Germs rule! We did receive a lot of shit from people for not changing the name after such a huge line-up change and writing new songs, but I've been going to Media Blitz shows since I was sixteen. To me the name was a big part of growing up in the Orange County punk scene. Besides, what's in a name?

  

Do you think music can still be a vital force in such a disposable age?

In my opinion, underground punk music with a DIY ethic is the most effective method of free expression of radical ideas and thoughts that we have. Whenever I hear people say that punk is dead, or that "things just aren't the way they used to be" I can't help but laugh. Two or three times a year we pile into a mini-van and drive thousands of miles across country and the sole thing that keeps us alive in the incredible network of DIY venues, people and bands that are apart of the hardcore punk scene. There's bands everywhere that drive through 105 degree heat, play in basements and sleep on flea infested carpet every night just to be able to play music and have fun. That's punk as fuck. So, yeah, music can still be a vital force.

50 years ago people use buy music and get their water for free, now people pay for water and get their music for free. How do you think this affects music in anyway?

It can help and it can hurt, I suppose. People are a lot more willing to take a chance on a band if they can download their music for free to check it out. This has helped us immensely, I think. Our new EP is on a few music downloading blogs, and I think it gets us a lot of exposure to people who may never hear us otherwise. However, we don't rely on selling records to be able to live, for other bands that do it might be a big deal. As long as we have enough gas money to get us to the next show we're good. Besides, people still buy vinyl a lot. There's something about having an actual copy of a record in your hands that mp3s can never replace. I often will download a bands stuff, then if I like it I will go buy the record.

Where was the Never Grow Up video shot?

That was filmed in Orange County at our record release show in March. That's why there's party hats and balloons flying around, to celebrate the new 7" ha, ha! We received the records in the mail three days before that show so we were stressing out on if we'd even have them at the release show or not. It all worked out, though, and we went on a west coast tour the next day.

What’s next for the band? Shows? Releases? Etc.

We have some local southern California shows coming up and we're planning on booking a tour out to Texas and back in January 2011. Other than that we're writing new songs and making plans for a new release, we're just not sure on the details of that yet.

Any last words?

We have our No Regrets 7"/CD EP available online at: mediablitz.bigcartel.com/

Also, check out our website for upcoming show info: mediablitzhc.com/

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Cat Party

Interview by Ed Stuart

Who’s answering the questions?

Ryan Nichols

Where is the band from?

Costa Mesa, CA

What are inspirations for the lyrics?

Life and everything surrounding it. Personal bullshit. 

Flat Black is pretty much a hardcore label. How did Cat Party become connected with them? Why the decision to put the LP and upcoming 7 inch with them?

They started coming to shows around the same time our LP was being recorded and said they'd do whatever we wanted. They were really adamant about releasing it and really excited. Then once the full length was out and we had Heartache on deck it just made since to go with them. Homies! 

It looks like Cat Party has a little West Coast tour plan?  How excited are you guys?

Pretty damn excited. It's gonna be my vacation. We've been a band for 3 years and this is the first time were leaving for more than 3 days so it's also well over due. Can't wait.

What are some of the bands favorite bands?  I can hear Wipers and T.S.O.L. in the songs.

The Drowning Men, Earthmen and Strangers, The Estranged, JJ FAD, Cut City, Madonna, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart.

Do you think music can still be a vital force in such a disposable age?

Yes. People love music just as much as they ever did. They've just become spoiled and greedy about getting it but regardless music is a necessity for most people.

50 years ago people use to buy music and get their water for free, now people pay for water and get their music for free. How do you think this affects music in any way?

It's pretty fucked. It helps music get out there but it pisses on the people who created it.

What’s in the future for Cat Party?  Any new releases coming out soon? Etc.

We have a split coming out with Earthmen and Strangers. After that I don't know...maybe another 7" or an EP...depends on money. 

Any last words?

Thanks. Bye.

http://www.myspace.com/birdsofpreymusic

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New interviews coming soon!!!

New interviews coming soon!!!

Brett Shady

Interview by Ed Stuart

Who’s answering the questions?

Brett Shady

Where is the band from?

I started playing music in Nevada City, CA and have lived in Los Angeles for the past ten years. I've been singing in bands for about 15 years and recently decided to try writing and playing my own stuff. I just recorded an album back in Nevada City with some friends of mine and I think it turned out great. It’s nice to have a ton of talented friends, it makes things much easier.

Who is in the band and what instrument do they play?

So far, all my live shows have been just me and a guitar, but I'm in the process of putting an actual band together. I’ve never been in this position before, so everything feels like it’s taking forever and I get impatient a lot. On the record, Lee Bob Watson and Ehren Haas play lead, Jason Graham plays bass and banjo, David Nicholson plays drums and Adam Kline plays some guitar, piano and some back up vocals with a few other friends. Even Dana Gumbiner, who recorded the album, adds some voice and percussion. They added a lot to it, I’m very grateful to those guys.

How did the band start?

Actually, it started out of frustration. I’ve always just been a singer in a band, so I was always at the mercy of other people, which I really didn’t mind most of the time, but I didn’t have too much control over things. Forcing myself to learn guitar well enough to write an album was a huge thing for me and I’m so glad I started, instead of just joining another band as a singer. It’s more rewarding so far since I wrote it all myself, but that will make any bad reviews that much harder to handle, too. If that starts happening, I guess I’ll find out how much the ol’ ego can handle it.

What bands did you have in mind when starting this band?

Well, I didn’t have any specific bands or artists in mind when I started and the songs were coming out sounding more country than I thought they would. At the time I started writing, I was listening to a lot of Marty Robbins, Buck Owens and other old country as well as old soul like Sam Cooke and Joe Tex and all that, but I really wasn’t trying to sound like any of them, maybe just trying to get a certain feeling of a song. There’s an Ivory Joe Hunter song called “Since I Met You Baby” that I love and I tried to get that overall feeling in a song on my record called “Darling.” I don’t really think they sound very similar, but I do like how that song turned out.

Do you think music can still be a vital force in such a disposable age?

Well I think music will always be important. I think it’s lost some of its value, since you don’t get the chance to search and discover anymore, but there are up sides to that, too. It seems like people are getting exposed to different musical genres and eras than they normally would have before the whole digital thing.

50 years ago people use buy music and get their water for free, now people pay for water and get their music for free. How do you think this affects music in anyway?

On the plus side, that makes bands and artists focus more on playing a good live show that people will want to come out to over and over. But it does make it a little harder for bands to start out when they’ve got to foot the bill for recording and putting a record out when the labels are crumbling and kids are getting to hear your shit for free. On one hand I think “As long as people are listening, who cares how they get a hold of it?” But the older I get, I think I’d probably start getting annoyed by it. It’d be nice to pay some bills and stuff.

What are the song lyrics about?

Most of the songs on the record are about when I moved from Nevada City to LA. I almost immediately became completely broke and depressed. I was in a sort of fog for about six or seven years. I started drinking quite a bit and had no real direction at all, but I was determined to stay here. I didn’t let myself move back to the comfortable old home town, there was no way I would do that. When I was in the midst of that period, I wrote songs, but they were all happy. I was miserable, but I couldn’t admit it. As soon as things got better for me, I could finally start writing about the bad times. Not that I think it’s all smooth sailing now, but I guess I’ll find out in a few years what’s dragging me down these days when I start writing songs about it.

I read you have an album coming out in early 2010. Is this a self-release or is a label putting it out?

For now, it’s a self-release. I’m still trying to figure out how I’m going to pay for it. I had been planning on it coming out in December 2009. I’ve been saying it’s coming out in “a couple months” since October, but seriously, it will be out in a couple months.

What is the connection with Golden Shoulders?

Adam from Golden Shoulders is one of my best friends. We were in a totally horrible band together very early on and have been close ever since. Recently, I started accompanying him on tour, singing back-up and playing percussion, and touring with him is actually the reason I decided to try the solo thing and play music again. He’s also helped me out a huge amount during the recording of my songs. I’m always second guessing myself, so I’m so grateful for him and other friends and family who keep me going. Otherwise I would have probably just sat on these songs thinking they weren’t good enough or something.

Do you think your road trips have had any effects on your songwriting?

Definitely. If I’m not writing about something specific from the road, just the time spent in the car thinking helps come up with ideas. Long drives are like meditation in a way, just the act of driving hundreds of miles, listening to music and thinking. It’s probably my favorite way to spend a day.

The songs have an older feel as if from previous decades. Was that conscious decision in the songwriting?

No, but thanks! I’ve always loved older music. When I was a kid, I would pretty much only listen to music from the 50s exclusively. I still love hearing groups like The Fleetwoods, The Platters, The Drifters, Buddy Holly, doo-wop, that sort of stuff. Then after a prolonged period in high school of really bad taste (think 90s adult contemporary), I finally was introduced to some current stuff I had no idea existed and I sort of went crazy with it and hunted down these bands. I think about that time as when I really discovered music for the first time and I was already over 20. But I’m really thankful for having that music from the 40s, 50s and 60s as a base as a kid, most of everything I listen to or write now still stems from that.

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Light Rays

Interview by Ed Stuart

Who’s answering the questions?

Jeff Kile

Where is the band from?

Costa Mesa, CA

Who is in the band and what instrument do they play?

This band is kind of a revolving cast of characters.  Right now it’s myself, Kyler Le Fav and Max Gomez.  We like to switch it up and keep it interesting though, should be adding a keyboard player soon.

How did the band start?

This started as a solo project I recorded on a 4 track tape recorder. I passed around the tape to friends and started getting asked to play shows. So, then I went about putting a band together.

What bands did you have in mind when starting this band?

Wire, Please Please Me by the Beatles, Brian Eno, Buddy Holly, The Chantays, Lucky Dragons

50 years ago people use buy music and get their water for free, now people pay for water and get their music for free. How do you think affects music in anyway?

Ha! That’s a great line!  In a perfect world, everything would be free and everyone would be artists. Robots would do all the hard work and all time would be "free" time, which people could use to love each other and surf and make music. This is what I’m working towards.  I would love it if I could make a "living" off music, but until then I’m getting paid to build the robots.  As long as people dig the music I'll keep making it.

What are the song lyrics about?

Girls, the end of the world, heroin junkies, girls, lsd, surfing, girls

How did you hook up with Sun Fight Records?

This is a label me and my friend Zeke started. Basically I do all the work like making the website (www.sunfightrecords.com), pressing records/CD’s/tapes, sending stuff out for review and Zeke takes all the credit.

Do you agree with your mom that you’re the perfect person to write the new surf music?

I love the ocean. I think it definitely inspires the music along with a host of other things. I think everyone is the perfect person to make music about things that inspire them.

It would be easy to categorize Light Rays as surf pop, but some of the keys remind me of Devo or Eno, was this done to avoid being pigeonholed?

All the keyboard sounds I made custom for each song, the idea was to write catchy songs and on each song have a new sound that exists only on that song and no place else in the world. It’s kind of like peanut butter and jelly, both are good by themselves, but put them together and now you’re really on to something.

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The Clouds

Interview by Ed Stuart

Who’s answering the questions?

Jose Serna

Where is the band from?

I am from Fillmore, CA, but now live and base my life and music around Long Beach, CA.

Who is in the band and what instrument do they play?

Pam Gartner - vocals, piano, toy synth, casio synth, melodica, and glockenspiel

Carina Downing - vocals, piano, synth, flute

Jose Serna - vocals, guitar, drum programming on recordings

Alvaro "Al" Rodriguez - drums, percussion

Jason Cordero - bass

How did the band start?

Before moving to Long Beach, I was teaching myself how to record with the computer. I invited friends to record silly songs. Then I began doing some more serious work, but felt it needed more than my voice, so I invited Carina and Pam. I've known them both for a long time and they sang in their own projects so I wasn't trying to start a band or anything, it was just a personal project. We would record in my room and in a small cabin a friend would let us stay at. Carina and I then moved to Long Beach and I kept recording and getting better, still inviting the girls to participate. Then when Pam moved to Long Beach she somehow got this horrible idea to perform these songs. I was taken back by it because we weren't a band. We didn't even know we could play the songs live. I invited Alvaro to play drums, and a good friend to jam guitar lines over the songs. It didn't go bad, but it wasn't great. What did happen is that we realized we could actually play these songs and people liked them. We invited Jason to play bass immediately after we're been a happy family ever since. All in all, I blame Pam.

What bands did you have in mind when starting this band?

I didn't but somehow Pinback, the Beatles and Franklin for Short snuck in there. Bastards.

50 years ago people use buy music and get their water for free, now people pay for water and get their music for free. How do you think this affects music in anyway?

I listen to much more music now than when I had to pay for everything. In Fillmore, we would have to drive 30 minutes to another city just to buy a CD, and if it sucked, well, it better grow on you. Now I listen to so much more due to its availability. And everything I listen to influences me whether or not I want it to. As for water, that's Carina's department.

What are the song lyrics about?

The lyrics of The Clouds is about people and their place in the world. Before moving to Long Beach, I had a strong feeling of who I was and what I wanted. That all changed when I realized how much bigger the world I lived in was. The lyrics are about the changes we went through and how much we have grown since then. I think this is a very common feeling and we are excited to talk about with others. I think the lyrics are really easy to understand if you pay attention to them. For The Clouds, I'm taking Wordsworth's approach and writing for everyone using a rich approach. What frustrates me most is people coming up to me after they hear a song and ask me what it's about. I feel like I didn't do the song justice. I'm not frustrated with the person but with myself, the song should hold it's own.

In this age of free downloads; I heard Clouds is planning on releasing a book with CD included? Pretty ambitious, tell us a little about that project.

Digital distribution of music has, in my opinion, done two major things, make most music easily available to everyone and depersonalize music. I don't buy CD's anymore, mp3's or vinyl, no need for a middle man with my iPod. I want our music to be personal, so we thought a book with poetry, prose, lyrics and photography created by us and our friends would be a great personal way to communicate; it's worked for centuries. Carina is putting it all together with the help of Kyle Moreno and his KUI press. I've only seen a test book, but they've done a fantastic job and I'm really excited about people seeing it.

In this jaded, cynical time, you could of written a lot of material tapping into people’s frustration, but Clouds has chosen the opposite approach? Why?

It began with my own frustrations. The album coming out has a lot to do with frustrations of moving away from the comfortable, your home. But I don't feel that presenting a problem is enough, creating more negativity seems to be counter productive. We always try to find the positive in the situation. Most times you can find it, some times you can't. I spend a lot of time considering my intentions of the song before creating it. I think I may write music a little differently. I began with my concept, an idea that I wish to communicate and then figure out the best possible way to do it musically. In the past, with other bands, we used to just jam and write music and someone would just lay lyrics on top as if they were just a frosting, but lyrics should be the core of the song, at least that's my approach with The Clouds. We have songs about car crashes, a suicide attempt, pollution, boredom, and a lover's remorse amongst many other deeply depressing concepts. But it makes no difference to me if I only sing about that or punch someone in the face, it only hurts and nothing good comes out of it. Wordsworth said that poetry's origins come from "emotions recollected in tranquility." And that is where The Clouds approach comes from. What have we learned from these frustrations and how can we share them with others? If you listen/read the lyrics, you can see that there is almost always something we have learned from a bad situation, there always is, it's just hard to find them sometime. By the way, I am not dismissing music that punches you in the face, just not for me, I'm delicate. 

There are rumors Clouds is thinking of reworking a hardcore song? 

Yup. Al drums for a hardcore band, Big Takeover and someone had mentioned that we should swap songs and rework them in our own fashion. I thought it would be a fun idea. Plus, I think when music is released it doesn't belong to the creator anymore. The listener puts their own spin on it, since the band isn't sitting there with them telling them exactly what it's about. We want to appropriate a song and make it cloudy. I want to see if we could calm a beast.

How did you hook up with Missing Records? 

Michael Compton from the band Star Parts put together this great website called Missing Records. It's an online distribution where the artists control everything. I don't feel labels have much to offer bands anymore, besides money, and Michael has found a way to offer something besides that. I really respect him for it. We played some shows with his band and he invited us to join his site. A band can upload their album for sale and create their own price. I like it.  www.missingrecords.com

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The Thingz

Interview by Ed Stuart

Who’s answering the questions?

Mike

Where is the band from?

Where the debris meets the sea, by the banks of the Ohio. Near don Cordero’s Temple. Trace a line from my birthplace to my place of employment. About halfway in between. There! Right there, it is.

Who is in the band and what instrument do they play?

Jason, Kim and Mike; drums, bass and guitars. And vocals.

How did the band start?

It was an accident. I wrote some songs, and someone had to play them. The rest, as they say, is hysteria.

What bands did you have in mind when starting this band?

I didn’t mind any other bands at the time, it was more a matter of the songs and tells to tail, so to speak. You know, ballast. Or ballads.

Do you think music can still be a vital force in such a disposable age?

Yes, to the same degree that music can be a disposable force in a vital age. It all depends upon whose ox being gored. Like don’t covet they neighbors ax, buy your own friggin’ guitar. But not in a bad way. Like saving old jars, new whines for old potato skins. Better an old lemon than a new cod. You understand.

50 years ago people use buy music and get their water for free, now people pay for water and get their music for free. How do you think this affects music in anyway?

I still get my water for free, and I buy my music. I’m a throw-back, almost a thrown-away. A pig’s knuckle dragger, a chicken in a can-can. Because we know we can. And next thyme, they’ll give ME fifteen cents.

What are the song lyrics about?

They’re about the length of the song, which can be anywhere from a one minute fifteen seconds, to a clean three and a half minutes. The lyrics last about as long as the songs, you understand. We don’t do spoken word, unless we’re having a conversation. We don’t play the lyre, however, though I do have an autoharp.

When performing songs like “She’s a Piranha” and “I’m Glad I’m Not a Mollusk” would you say your tongue is permanently planted in cheek?

No, because it would difficult to sing that way. And I’m not much of a singer to begin with. She really is a piranha, and I am truly glad I’m not a mollusk. But everything else is open to debate.

How would you describe your crew of crab dancers that I’ve seen at a few shows?

Crabtastic. Crusteaceaus. Clawing their way to the top, which is really the bottom. You understand.

Shouldn’t your drummer have a snappy last name like Morrisonic or Thing too? What’s the holdup?

He is Count Cordero. He loves to count! Thing two?

On “Do The Crab,” are Mike’s faux metal yells acknowledging a secret metal collection or is it another example of over the top Thingz fun flippant vocal delivery?

Not so much metal as meddlesome. Like what is that guy doing in this song? And I would not know what to do with a metal fox, anyway. Give me a rubber chicken salad sandwich any day.

http://www.myspace.com/thethingz

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