Fresno, Then and Now.

As some of you may already know, I've recruited a few guest bloggers. Now, when I say "recruited," what I mean is that I've specifically asked these people to write something because I know they have something inciteful to say about the Fresno music scene. But don't wait for an invitation from me; If you want to write a guest blog, e-mail your idea to: mitchonspeed@gmail.com.

Now, back to business. This next guest blog is from a guy who (for the time being) wants to call himself Percival Sweetwater. Of course, that's not his real name. But if one so desires, I will respect their anonymity. I've known Percival for a little more than a year now. He's become a respected friend.

I wanted a blog that compared Fresno's current music scene to that of approximately 20 years ago. Percival thrived in the "scene" back in those days. Here's what he has to say.


Guest blogger: Percival Sweetwater

[Mitch on Speed] asked an old man to write about the local music scene, then and now. I’m the old man. I’m 39.

I doubt you’ve met me. I normally don’t go to live shows. It’s like six bucks a lot of times, which is more than a beer. Other bars you start drinking right away.

I’ve stood outside a lot of places over the years. I stood outside the Olympic Tavern and the Wild Blue in 1983. I was in the parking lot of the Knights of Columbus in 1986. I walked by Club Fred, and stood in the little entranceway of the Starline two years ago. And I’ve spent many a night chatting it up with Chip out in front of Tokyo Garden.

Comparing then and now is like comparing a Fiero to an Aries. Don’t get me wrong. There’s been moments where Fresno’s music scene was so popular and vibrant that it elevated to Bakersfield level.

Yet, both eras have good bands. There was Capitol Punishment (never saw ‘em), The Mockers (ditto), The Clams (see note for "The Mockers"), BEDS, Trojan Country Club, Similar Animals and the amazing Let’s Go Bowling, which played ska just about the same time as ska was a movement. It was probably the best band in Fresno. Maybe the Mockers; others swear they were awesome. Oh, and my former roomies in Neanderthals and Circus Bogus had really good bands.

But then again, some things never change. Man, you should have seen the crap that got Saturday nights back then.

Anyway, this is my point: Back then, if you wanted to see a good band, your best bet was the all-ages show. The kids were ushering authentic stuff, pushing aside Fresno’s usual fare of carbon copy by the numbers bands. It’s the same story right now.

Recently I saw a great little band called No Cello, which charmed me with its originality. And there was a band called Riverwood (I think) that opened up for a band called Ben & The Dolphins or something at Club Fred. And I’ve been noticing more stuff online that references new music. There’s this website called Fresno Famous that mentioned Sufjan Stevens, and the reference to something current made me fill my drawers with joy. And a lot of people in Fresno go online and look at that Pitchfork magazine. There’s something comforting in knowing I’m officially a dork and you guys are cool.

Of course there is the occasional* show that doesn’t draw, but that’s to be expected around here.

But here’s the real reason why I don’t go to shows and it’s not because of the money: Just like back then, many bands in Fresno are not professional. And I don’t mean suit & tie stuff. I mean they play far too loud for the tiny room, or they start an hour late or play past their allotted time. Sometimes they’ll tell everyone they’re playing early and then at the last second negotiate for a later slot, compromising their friends’ evenings. Screw you.

I’ve walked out on at least four shows before they started because the bands waited for the "crowd" to show up. As a farmer once said, "Just because only a few cows showed up at milkin’ time, you think I’m not gonna milk ‘em?"

Maybe these new folks will be better than Bakersfield, start on time, end on time, play at the right volume and create spirited, inspired music that can be embraced by those as far away as Vacaville and Calwa.

(*each Friday)

Interview: El Olio Wolof

Interviewed by Mitchell Peters


So here’s what happened. Earlier this week, a friend told me that El Olio Wolof (Merced) was playing a show this Saturday (10/22) at downtown Fresno’s Gardenside Studios. Apparently, the whole thing was supposed to be hush hush. Whatever. A couple days rolled by, and I saw a Myspace posting about it somewhere. So I figured since the cat was out of the bag, I’d take it upon myself to interview a member of El Olio (since I know nobody else is gonna do it.)

Hopefully, this interview will draw more people to the show. That is my intention in doing this. In all honesty, I haven’t listened to El Olio’s music. However, I’ve heard they rock (from credible sources). I’ll take their word for it.

If you want a bio on the band and all that good stuff, visit their official Web site: El Olio Wolof. Until there, here’s a few questions I whipped up in about 10 minutes. I talked to the band's RADIOACTIVE CAULIFLOWER, who sings and plays guitar. Go to their show at Gardenside this Saturday, damn you! It’s ALL AGES.

Gardenside Studios (746 Broadway Fresno, CA)
El Olio Wolof The Harpeth Trace Birdmonster No Cello
All Ages, 9 p.m., $5

Damn, I should be getting paid for this... Hey, now there's an idea!

Mitch on Speed: I won't ask what your music sounds like because people can go to your Myspace profile and listen to samples. But if you wanna tell us anyway, feel free.
Radioactive Cauliflower: Our Music is loud and fast and then gets really slow or the bottom will fall out all together. Since we write the music to the story it tends to grow well, I feel anyhow. Lots of different parts. We like to focus on the story and not worry about going back and forth from verse to chorus so much.

Everyone I've talked to in the Fresno "indie" scene tells me El Olio Wolof is badass live. The closest I've come to seeing your band was during a show at Tokyo Garden (in Fresno) where Radioactive Cauliflower (RC) was playing solo acoustic. He was pretty good. His songs reminded me of tall tales. What's your response to that?
The solo stuff is usually a lot shorter and straight to the point of the tale. It's like Radioactive Cauliflower solo songs are a synopsis on the back of an El Olio Wolof book.

By the way, where the hell did you come up with the name Radioactive Cauliflower? Your parents didn't fancy names like Robert, Jim, Andy, Harold, etc.???
Actually I was born Ronald Regan Calhoon. When I was 2 months old my name was changed to RC so that I could one day become the poster child for the cola, as my father always wanted. God rest his soul.

Compare and contrast what you know of the Fresno music scene with the Merced music scene.
One great town, and one great city. I feel that Fresno needs to become the the Central Ca hub. Merced will always have that tight knit community at the shows, but like all city's it is such a task just keeping a place open and be able to offer a decent cover and stay all ages. Both towns have enormous potential, but I know both "scenes" need to step it up. Fresno just seems like is is more on the ball right now.

Wasn't El Olio Wolof nominated for some Merced music award? Fill us in on the details and results.
We were actually nominated for a Modesto Area Music Award. We wont win though. It is an honor to be nominated, but I feel that people cheat in the voting and the awards are based on popularity. All the voting is done online by the fans. So if your listeners are lazy and not on the computer all the time. You don't stand a chance.

In doing my "research" for this interview, I Googled "El Olio Wolof." The search engine returned with 814 results. Your Myspace profile has 2,512 views and 351 friends. Don't really know where I'm going with this question... Um, never mind.
And 2,000 of those Myspace hits were done by the fans of El Olio Woloof, a John Tesh polka band from New York.

How long has it taken you to grow your beard? I like it. (This is a serious question, by the way.)
I shaved clean the day my son Osiah was born that was almost 2 years ago. The next time I cut it off will be the day I teach him to shave.

Ah, here's a question. Tell us your affiliation with Fresno's Greytank Records. What's the backstory on all that/current situation?
Greytank Records are going to release our next full length in February. Those guys and the whole Greytank family are very supportive. I met Greyson from Bel & The Dragon at a Calvin Johnson show in Merced. He told me to get ahold of Brad. I sent him a CD that I accidentally lost $20 in. We had a show a couple of months later.

Any upcoming tours we should know about? That, or exciting news/plans your band has?
We are playing alot right now. In December we are doing a 7 day in the north west, in Spring with are doing a 9 day south west and in June we are doing a five week US thing. Our goal right now is to play our songs for as many people as possible while simultaneously exploring the world of vegan cuisine

I see in your bio that you've played on the same bill with SF's Deerhoof (who are frickin' awesome!) How did that show go?
The show went really well. It was a great trip at the end of the night the venue went to pay Deerhoof their larger cut, then Greg (Deerhoof’s drummer) gave them back the money and had them split it even ways, there was no rock star attitude. I just talked to Greg the other day and I am trying to set up a show with them in Fresno. Funny you asked about that.

In El Olio Wolof's opinion, what goes into putting on a good local show – be it Merced, Fresno, etc.? What's your strategy in promoting and getting kids to come out?
Fliers, phone calls, emails. If a band wants to be heard they need to promote all of their shows and play to their fullest. And it doesn't hurt to have naked humans on your flier...sex sells you know, I mean look at Britney, she is someone we should all strive to be like. I got fake tits yesterday.

E-mail: mitchonspeed@gmail.com
AIM: mitchonspeed

Why The Hell Am I Keeping This Blog?

This Is My Motivation:

I've been getting good responses on this Fresno Music Scene Blog. When I'm at a show, people will say, "Hey, Mitch. I've been reading your blog. I like it. It's funny." And I'll say, "Cool. Thanks." It's nice to know people are enjoying it.

Basically, the reason I'm keeping this blog is because it's fun. I've been going to local "indie" shows around here for about two years now. So I figured, hey why not keep a blog about them? It feels so good to be able to say WHATEVER THE HELL I WANT about the music around here. It's very liberating.

But just because I say something doesn't mean it's right. Remember that. All this is just my observation and opinion (which I think is pretty damn good.)

Here's the plan: to keep writing about shows and different people involved with the Fresno music scene. I may also throw in random things here and there. But I'll try to keep it Fresno-related. I'm also planning to conduct short Question & Answer (Q&A) interviews various local bands. (If you're in a band and interested in this, contact me*)

*If you'd like to contact me but don't have a MySpace account, e-mail me at mitchonspeed@gmail.com

From time to time, I may ask people to write "guest blogs" for me. It's nice to have a well-rounded view of what other people think too. Not just me. That would get boring, right? (If you think you have something worthwhile to say about the Fresno music scene, contact me.)

More importantly, I want this blog to reach people in Fresno who may not know too much about what's happening in the local music scene. It would be cool to bring people together. I mean, I don't know EVERYTHING that's going on here, but I know a little. If you or one of your friends has a cool band, let me know about it. I'm anxious to hear. When possible, I'd also like to help promote upcoming shows.

Most of the local shows I go to have pretty small crowds, which disappoints me. I'm hoping people will read this blog and (hopefully) be inspired to go out more often. I will not use the expression "support your local music scene" because I don't like it. You can use it if you want, though. I just don't see the point in that statement. A person should go to a concert because they like music, not just to support the scene. It just sounds weird to me.

So yeah, that's about it. We'll see what happens. Hopefully I don't get bored and quit after a month. Ha! Oh yeah, subscribe to this blog so you can receive updates automatically.

Background Info On Me: I used to be a DJ at Fresno State's KFSR 90.7-FM. They called me "Mitch on Speed." I finished school. Now I write for a living about music biz-related stuff. I've also been known to dabble in freelance music writing for various magazines and Web sites. But forget about all of that. Here's the biggest thing you need to know about me: I love music. It's my life. Well, a big part of it, at least.

Loud is the New Quiet

This first part is off-topic. Don't worry, we'll get to the good stuff...

While driving to work today, I heard an ad on the radio announcing that Andrea Bocelli was coming to Fresno. He’s the blind opera singer dude. I’m not sure why, but as the radio guy said Bocelli’s name I started to think about other blind musicians like Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, etc., etc. (the reason I put “etc., etc.” is because I can’t think of any other blind musicians off the top of my head). So then, I thought to myself, “Wow, there’s been quiet a few REALLY GOOD musicians who are blind.” Then another thought occurred to me: How come you don’t see many of REALLY GOOD musicians with disabilities? In my lifetime, I don’t recall seeing any awesome opera singers/pop stars/county artists/whatever who are stuck in a wheelchair. I mean, how many one-legged jazz musicians have you heard of? None, I’m sure. I know they’re out there, but they’re just not in the mainstream. I’m not writing this as a joke; it was a serious thought. Maybe I just can’t think of any right now, but when was the last time you saw an emo rocker with cerebral palsy? Think about it.

New subject. Last night I was with my friend, Gen, at Barnes & Noble. Let me stress the fact that the bookstore’s name is Barnes & Noble, not Barnes & Noble(s). Understand? I used to work there for a time, and I would HATE when people added an “s” to Noble. So, when you’re around me, please don’t EVER make that mistake. Thanks.

So, yeah. I was at Barnes & Noble with my friend. She was looking for some books on cactus or cacti – whatever the hell you want to call them. While she was looking through cactus/cati books, I decided to browse through the crappy selection of music magazines they have there. I picked up the new Magnet, which is like a cross between Pitchforkmedia.com and Rolling Stone. It’s basically a magazine with a bunch of indie-esque bands featured in it. For example, the latest issue had the guy from The New Pornographers on the cover. It also featured stories with Bright Eyes, My Morning Jacket and some other bands that I’ve already forgotten.

As I flipped through the pages, I eventually came to the end, which usually happens. On one of the very last pages, there were a few black and white ads. I recognized on the pictures; it was latest Sleepover Disaster full-length, Loud is the New Quiet. (The band has since released an EP titled The Oceanographer.) After seeing it, I remembered Vince, the band’s drummer, saying something about them placing an ad in there. But I was still kind of dumbfounded to see a Fresno band advertising in a major music publication. It was just weird. I wondered to myself, “Does placing an ad like this really do anything? I mean, are people [in anytown U.S.A.] actually going to look at this ad, go to Sleepover’s Myspace page, listen to their music, then buy their CD?” In my natural negative thought process, I answered the question: no. But who knows? Maybe it has made a difference. I’m not sure. Maybe someone in the band can comment on this blog and answer the question for me.

I definitely think it’s good that the guys from Sleepover Disaster are doing things to promote their band. I’m just not sure that placing an ad like that will further whatever goal they’re trying to accomplish. May I just an idiot and don't know a damn thing about marketing/promotion. I just want to know what motived the band to do that. What was their underlying stratedy? I doubt placing that ad was cheap. I'll tell you that much. Shit, I don’t know. It’s kind of frustrating just thinking about it. Anyway, I wasn’t trying to make a point there; I just felt like sharing that story.

Vince's (Sleepover drummer) response:

the ad in Magnet magazine (and ads in The Big Takeover, Dagger, and a few others) resulted in a few thousand hits on our website (www.thesleepoverdisaster.com)- even though it's still in the works- and on our myspace page. the intention of running the ads was simply to raise awareness of the band name and the music, but we've made many great contacts, not to mention that CD sales though CDBaby.com and downloads from itunes (and several other sites) that have resulted have more than paid for the ads. we're not getting rich here, just trying to be self-sufficient, and running zine ads has given us a better ability to do that.

that said, the best publicity you can ask for in a magazine is an interview or an album review. why? because it's free, for one thing, not to mention that you'll probably get more space in-print. magazines aren't necessarily forthcoming with that kind of coverage, though, without name recognition, or some major accomplishment or exposure. bands at our level have to work day by day to get people to listen. running ads can "put a bug" in the ear of someone at a magazine so that next time you send that promo package, they might take a minute to listen. don't be so cynical as to call it payola at this level; we sent packages out for our first two releases to magazines that we had run ads in and got no attention whatsoever. it wasn't until "loud is the new quiet" that we began to get attention (a bunch of great reviews over the last few months), and i think every package we sent, every zine ad we ran contributed to that.

-vince from the sleepover disaster

In other “news,” Fresno’s Hop Skotch Heros are playing a show at Fresno State Wednesday, October 19th. I might go. Here’s the info:

Hosted By: Fresno State Women's Resource Center
When: Wednesday Oct 19, 2005 @ 5:00 PM
Where: Fresno State (in the peace garden)