It isn't exactly easy for Comfort Twin to rehearse. Yet, while members of the Santa Cruz-based indie-Americana octet are spread far and wide—some live as far away as Berkeley and Sacramento—the group makes it work. And even though guitarists/vocalists Scott Ferreter and Zane Griffin—the Santa Cruz portion of the band—could probably find any number of talented musicians in town to back them up when they play The Crepe Place this Friday and Saturday, it just wouldn't be right if they did.
Donavon Frankenreiter reminds listeners to live in the present
Start Livin’, Donavon Frankenreiter’s newly released fifth album, consists of exactly the sort of music that fans have come to expect from the singer/guitarist/songwriter-cum-pro surfer: laidback acoustic surf-folk much akin to that of Frankenreiter’s friend and mentor, Jack Johnson. But Frankenreiter tried some new recording tactics this time out.
For one, rather than bringing in a full band, he enlisted the talents of just one other musician: his longtime bassist, Matt Grundy. The two musicians used all kinds of instruments never before heard on a Frankenreiter album—along with banjo, lap steel guitar and ukulele, they made creative use of percussion: In lieu of a drum kit, Frankenreiter and Grundy used pots and pans, Zippo lighters, singing bowls, bells and good old-fashioned hand claps.
Back in 2008, local power trio Blue Soulstace came together in a very 21st century way: Craigslist. “I answered an ad that was posted by the bass player, James Ferguson,” recalls lead guitarist Frank Weckerle. “Turns out, I worked with the bass player’s fiancée, the bass player knew the drummer, Jon Carney, and the drummer’s wife worked with my wife.” Sounding like something out of Missed Connections, the soon-to-be bandmates found one another across space and time.
Local pop/folk/electronica outfit Audiafauna grows up on debut LP, ‘Grow Down’
When it comes to thrift store shopping in Santa Cruz, there’s no deal that’s too good to be true. But nobody understands the value of thrift stores better than Krikor Andonian, the guitarist and keyboardist for local pop, folk, and electronica-laden quintet, Audiafauna. It was at a thrift store on Front Street in 2008, where Andonian—then a grad student studying plant ecology at UC Santa Cruz—met singer Kelly Koval, who was studying literature at the time.
Over the years, Tater Famine has played on hundreds of punk rock bills in Santa Cruz with bands like The Chop Tops, Los Dryheavers, and The Crutch—so it may come as a surprise that the band specializes in acoustic, neo-cowboy thrash/folk songs. Matteo Brunozzi picks away on a mandolin, John Dodds strums guitar, and Lauren Berman plucks a stand-up bass. Drummers have come and gone, but this trio—known for its three-part harmonies—is lean, mean and ready to hit the road.
Thick-skinned indie duo, Bad Veins, battles heartbreak with power pop
Bad Veins’ music video for “Falling Tide,” the throbbing electrorock track off of the band’s alluringly bleak self-titled debut (2009), shows the two mopey musicians at their worst. For nearly three minutes, the wallflower rockers appear too introverted to function, as they are featured sitting in the same spots during a birthday party, while more social party-goers participate in cake fights and card games, and play with little plastic army men.
If you've ever stopped by one of the Boardwalk's free summer concerts, you are familiar with the idea: a crew of formerly famous (or formerly almost-famous) musicians playing radio-friendly hits. I Don't Wanna Hear It! are not those guys. "F*ckin A, dude! Let's go party!" So begins the locally based punk rock supergroup's cover of Black Flag's "Wasted." It's just one in an arsenal of bruising, off-key, yelling/ screaming/ slurring, ’80s punk covers that I Don't Wanna Hear It! are likely to tear through when they play with Agent Orange and Stellar Corpses at The Catalyst Atrium this Friday.
Singer/songwriter/guitarist Ali Handal can rock out with the best of the boys
Look through any list of famous lead guitarists, and you’ll notice something that almost all of them have in common: a Y chromosome. If you’re a true music aficionado, you might be able to name four or five well-known female lead players, but beyond that, the names take a sharp turn for the obscure.
As an accomplished lead guitarist, L.A.-based singer/songwriter Ali Handal is well aware that she’s a bit of an anomaly. She came face-to-face with that fact when she first moved from the Bay Area to Los Angeles in 1987. The musician recalls telling a Guitar Center employee she was unsure what gauge of guitar string she wanted. “The guy was like, ‘So, what kind of guitar does your boyfriend play?’” she recounts with a laugh.
I got a fever! And the only prescription is … more guitar! That's how Mesut özgen might complete Christopher Walken’s iconic line from the Saturday Night Live sketch spoofing Blue Oyster Cult's cowbell-heavy "Don't Fear the Reaper." After all, özgen is the conductor of the one-of-a-kind Santa Cruz Guitar Orchestra. While classical guitar is most often performed by a solo player or a quartet, according to özgen, the growing trend of the guitar orchestra—a 20-musician ensemble composed almost entirely of guitars—has taken up roots in Santa Cruz.
Beach Fossils’ Dustin Payseur sets down his controller and faces the music
Escaping from reality, via plunging into virtual, alternate worlds, appears to be all the rage for musicians these days, especially when you consider the viral rise to fame of Lana Del Rey’s hit “Video Games” and Dustin Payseur’s preferred pastime.
During a trivial Thursday, the frontman for Brooklyn-based indie dream pop quartet Beach Fossils clicks away the afternoon with good friend, collaborator, and Captured Tracks label-mate, Jack Tatum, of Wild Nothing.
At Santa Cruz High School, Anthony LaFrance easily blends in—he’s 18 years old, on the track team, and his favorite subject is English. But once the school bell rings, he unleashes his rap, R&B, and hip-hop-inspired alias, Antdog Da Beast. “The first time I touched a microphone was in seventh grade,” says LaFrance, who was visiting a radio show at UC Santa Cruz’s KZSC. When the show ended, “I started freestyling over instrumentals and heard the recording … ever since then, I’ve had the urge to make music.”
James McNew of Yo La Tengo picks favorites: albums, sports teams, coffee…
On the classic surf rock jam, “Nothing to Hide,” off of Yo La Tengo’s 12th album, Popular Songs (2009), husband and wife indie rockers Ira Kaplan (guitar) and Georgia Hubley (drums) sweetly sing, “We all decide/how to draw the line/we’ve all got something to hide.”
On bass, James McNew—who is anything but a third wheel—gives off some serious attitude, while Kaplan’s guitar playing mirrors an emotional tantrum, reminiscent of the tension that builds by bottling up feelings for too long. These two minutes and 46 seconds are torturous for the devoted listener, who, despite hoping to hear at least one scandalous secret, is, alas, cheated—until now, as McNew comes clean about all sorts of YLT-related and unrelated things.
