Jaded.

Here’s a little blog about yours truly. Get ready, it’s a long one...

In the many conversations I’ve had with people involved in the local scene, people seem intrigued when I reveal that I used to be in a band. I guess people are so surprised because they’ve never seen me play.

But for those of you who used to frequent the open mic nights at Starline and Club Fred back in the day, you’d know that I used to throw down a little acoustic every now and then. That was back when maybe three or four people would go. Now it’s crazy and overcrowded.

James Z (the best local singer-songwriter I’ve met) and I used to provide a few tunes for the Kern Street Café too. Those were fun; we’d make like $20 bucks. I’ve still got a couple of those sessions on cassette. Not to toot my own horn, but we sounded pretty damn good.

But lets’ back up and start from the beginning.

My first guitar lesson was on the day I turned 13. I’m not ashamed to say that Guns ‘N’ Roses guitarist Slash was my main inspiration. I desperately wanted to learn the opening riff of "Welcome to the Jungle." I eventually got it down.

The first time I picked up a guitar, my natural inclination was to play left-handed (like Paul McCartney, Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, etc.). My guitar teacher eventually advised me to switch and play as a righty. He said I’d be better off in the future because it’d be easier find/buy right-handed guitars. I ended up switching. I’m still not sure if I made the "right" decision. It was a weird transition at first. Eh, I’m used to it now.

I hated taking guitar lessons and eventually quit. I didn’t practice what I was supposed to, so it was useless. I’d basically go into the lesson and the guy would teach me how to play Nirvana songs (I was a HUGE Nirvana freak). When I started to learn power chords and whatnot, I began writing my own crappy little songs. From there, I bought a karaoke machine and started recording them. I still have those tapes. I must’ve had like 20-30 songs. They all sucked.

In those days, my dream was to be a famous rock ‘n’ roll star. I grew my hair out, wore ripped jeans – the whole bit. That dream eventually faded, but not until the end of high school/beginning college. It was awesome sitting alone in my room, turning up the bitchin’ distortion on my little Crate amp, and just rockin’ out. I’d close my eyes and pretend like I was playing a concert in front a bunch of people. It was fun. Now I know that I could never be a rock star. I go out one night and feel like shit for the rest of the week.

The first time I stepped onto a stage was eight grade during a talent show. A couple friends and I lip synched Green Day’s "When I Come Around." It was so dumb but in a weird way it was cool. Even though we weren’t playing the song – or our instruments for that matter – it was fun. I later ended up playing a few talent shows in high school. I never won. I wasn’t all that bad, though.

Once I entered high school, it was time to start a band. Unfortunately, my school only had about 600 people and not too many of them shared my passion to create rock ‘n’ roll; none that I knew of at least. At the time, a friend of mine had been messing around with the drums, so we decided to try and start something up. It failed miserably. The upper classmen called us "The Momma’s Boys." The other guy in the band wasn’t serious about it, and I was. That caused a problem. I guess it didn’t help that we both sucked, too. I eventually got frustrated and quit.

It wasn’t until my sophomore year that I joined my first "real" band. It was scary. I remember the day James Z (the guy mentioned above) approached me about joining his hard rock/heavy metal/grunge band, Jaded (that was the name of the band). At the time, James Z was in another band. I can’t remember their name, but it was like the only rock band in our small little town. In my mind, James Z was the closest thing to a rock start that I knew. To this day, he probably doesn’t know it but I idolized him.

It was extremely flattering for him to come up to out of nowhere and ask, "Hey, you wanna play bass in my band?" I was like, "Uh, yeah, sure." He was a senior at the time, so it was a little intimidating. Even worse, I only had like two days before he wanted me to practice with them. Luckily, they already had a bass guitar for me to play. It was this purple-blue metallic 4-string Fender.

Our first official band practice was on a Sunday. We ALWAYS practiced on Sunday. I used to love those days. We’d go over to our drummer’s house in Sanger and spend the whole day hanging out. Good memories of smoking cigarettes and walking to 7-11. The reason I remember it was a Sunday is because the night before I had a party at my house. I got pretty wasted. And for some strange reason, I remember exactly what I was wearing at that first practice. Damn, what happened to that shirt?

Jaded’s first "jam session" was fucking loud. I mean LOUD. I eventually started wearing earplugs. I was the youngest one in the band, so everyone kind of treated me like the baby. I was pretty naive back then. My parents hated me hanging out with the "rocker" types. If they had known the kinda stuff we were doing, I honestly couldn’t blame ‘em. Ha. I mean, our drummer’s room (where we practiced) had an upside down American flag on the wall, and one of our guitarists sang like he was possessed by Satan. It was awesome.

As I’m writing this, tons of memories are resurfacing. I experienced a lot of "firsts" during my time in Jaded: chicks, alcohol, drugs – you name it. I wish I could tell all the stories. I met a lot of cool bands and people back then. For the time being, I’ll just stick to the basics.

As I said, I was the bass player. James Z was the guitarist/singer, Travis was the drummer and Rene was the other guitarist/singer. Our sound was a cross between Slayer, Rage Against the Machine, Danzig, Nirvana and Soundgarden. To this day, I still believe we were the best band in Fresno at the time. Not to sound cocky, but I know we were.

I only sang two songs in Jaded, a cover of Nirvana’s "Breed" and an original called "Averse." I still love that song. It was funny because James Z and I would trade instruments in the middle of our set and everyone in the crowd would freak out. They’d say, "Hey, why are they switching? That’s crazy!" I guess it was impressive or something.

After practicing together for a few months we decided it was time to play live shows. Here was the problem: most of us were underage. But that didn’t stop us; we played at bars and stuff anyway. Back then, we would frequent the Red Wave Inn (the dive bar across from Fresno State), this little arcade on Shields and Blackstone, and house parties. We would go crazy onstage; usually because we were under the influence of something.

One time, we played a show at my cousin’s house and these two girls started to fight while we were playing. It was awesome. Instead of stopping our set we only played louder. I was 16-17 at the time, so it was interesting, to say the least. Unfortunately, we never toured. That’s probably a good thing.

Jaded eventually decided to record an EP. That’s about the time things went to hell. One of our guys knew this dude who recorded bands at his house for a cheap price. His name was Tom Delgado. He’s still around Fresno today. He’s that short guy who heads up the Wednesday jams at Starline. At that time, the Tom had REALLY long hair, and some pretty sweet recording equipment. We called me Eddie Munster. I guess I kind of looked like him.

We spent a couple weekends at his house. On one of the days, I remember buying a whole box of donuts for everyone. I ended up eating every single one of them. Can you guess why? Ha. But we ended up recording about four songs, which were never completed. I still have a rough copy of the songs on cassette, but they were never mixed properly. Man, I think Tom still has those reels. We should’ve gotten them back. Those were the days when Pro Tools didn’t exist.

Shortly after that recording session, Jaded broke up. We played for fun, but deep in our hearts I know we all had bigger hopes and aspirations. It was OK though, I was ready for it to be done. Rene (guitarist) and Travis (drummer) were fighting about something and they eventually called it quits. They’re friends now, though. After that, James Z and I still talked and hung. He’d come over my house pretty often and we’d play songs together, which eventually led to the coffee house gigs. I guess we both kind of got bored with it and stopped.

Which brings us to present day. I don’t really play music anymore. I pick up my guitar a few times a week and mess around, but that’s all. I can’t write songs anymore. I’m not sure why. I have this never-ending writer’s block. It’s weird. Maybe someday it’ll come back to me. I have a couple of cool guitars and a nice Fender DeVille amp. I also have drum set, which I haven’t played in a long time. It needs new heads. In the past year or so, I’ve bought several electro devices (drum machine, synth, etc.) but I haven’t really learned how to use them. I still have the desire to learn, though. Fresno needs an electro band.

The last time I played live anywhere was at Starline a couple years ago. James Z, Travis (Jaded’s former drummer) and myself got together and closed for Fresno’s Bev. We went under the name "Skeleton Keys." I still have the flyer in my car. We bombed that night. Afterwards, James Z and I went to Denny’s and talked about how horrible we sounded. We never played again after that.

I’m happy with not performing. I’d rather sit back and watch others. If I had my own band then I would lose my objectivity on the Fresno music scene. But who knows, maybe I’ll get the wild hair again sometime.

I commend anyone who actually read this whole thing... Thanks.

KFSR.

KFSR 90.7-FM. Need I say more?

Since I started writing these blogs, KFSR’s name has been popping up quite a bit within people’s comments and whatnot. Usually it’s in the context of, "KFSR blowwwwws, man!!!" or "Dude, KFSR doesn't support local bands." You know, stuff like that.

As some of you know, I used DJ at KFSR a couple years back. In fact, that's how I got this ridiculous name, "Mitch on Speed." Bad Andy (from Pinkeye) gave it to me one day during my show. I didn’t have a name for myself, so he just called me "Mitch on Speed."

(Due to legal reasons, I can’t explain in detail what went into me getting this name. And, no, it’s not drug-related.)

Anyway... We all have our own opinions about KFSR and why it does or doesn't suck these days.

Here’s a story written by a former KFSR "employee," DJ Christy. In my opinion, her show was one of the best. (We used to DJ during the same time period.) Christy is a journalism student and Fresno State. I believe she was let go from the station. I don’t know why. Anyway, here’s her story.

Guest Blogger: Christy Arndt

The college radio station, 90.7 KFSR Fresno, has the potential to reach over 500,000 Valley residents, according to the station’s Web site. The equipment has been replaced with up-to-date MP3 players and state-of-the-art microphones, computers, and a new main audio console. Joe Moore, Station Manager since 1999, has worked toward this goal by luring in a specific target audience.

KFSR’s self-proclaimed title, The Valley’s Home for Jazz, does more than attract the older jazz-listening crowd in Fresno. It alienates the college age listeners who are more interested in new progressive music, whether it’s hip-hop, rock, or rap. Although the radio station’s mission statement focuses on musical diversity and variety, a majority of the programming is dedicated to the jazz genre. KFSR plays over 70 hours of jazz each week, although the station’s mission is: "...to provide the Fresno area with unique, innovative and high quality public radio programming, thus enhancing the quality of life in Central California."

The main purpose of CSUF’s college radio station, according to the station’s Web site, is to operate as a profit-free learning tool for students.

[Mitch on Speed], music journalist and a former disc jockey for KFSR, says that soon after he left in spring 2004 new employees sharing Joe’s vision (to imitate corporate radio stations) decided to change the format.

He said in an interview that the station is now forcing DJs to play certain songs on a daily basis, which is cheating college students out of the whole college rock experience.

"I don’t think the station caters to college students. There is some programming that does, but as far as rock music goes, it seems kind of lame. From what I hear, half of the newly released CDs that are considered ‘good’ in the indie rock scene don’t even make it into the studio. I think that’s partly the music director’s fault for not recognizing what music is popular," [Mitch on Speed] said, in regards to the community’s expectations of KFSR, versus the new program director’s agenda.

[Mitch on Speed] agreed that an unusual amount of jazz is played to much at KFSR, and that a majority of the donations come from old people listening to Joe’s jazz programs.

"It would seem that he has many listeners who are older and would be more inclined to give money they had," he said.

Another former disc jockey from last year, Ryan Borba, wrote his strong opinion of jazz programming in a letter to The Collegian. He hypothesized that while people do know about KFSR, it is not serving the community of bored younger people in Fresno as well as it could.

In his letter, Borba said:

"The reason no one knows about KFSR is because KFSR caters to the older, wealthier, donating jazz sponsors who are responsible for a huge portion of the station’s operating funds."

This gives the impression that Joe Moore has the intention of keeping the station afloat with donations, but is forgetting about the college age listeners who proudly named the station, "The Mighty 90.7" when the new console was installed for more power. Money shouldn’t be the focus of an updated, non-profit organization.

"Even though (jazz) is not insanely popular it is certainly a very important style of music," said Moore in a Collegian interview last semester.

His hobby, which is also his lifestyle, has overpowered the station’s focus, losing variety and listeners along the way.