Ventura Musicians Rock

How serious about music do you have to be to have a band?
How good do you have to be to have a band?
What are your intentions for being in a band?

I have found out that there are a number of music snobs in this community, which is a little embarrassing, and it’s not because this isn’t L.A.,  or New York, or Austin or Seattle, it’s embarrassing because that’s an elitist mentality.   As far as the whole county goes, we have some pretty cool musicians calling this their home. We have Grammy winners, we have dozens of artists who have actually “been to the show” and have toured with national acts and have had hits on the radio, members from  Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Todd the Wet Sprocket, Social Distortion, the Foo Fighters, even Chris Cornell lived here for a while.  We have some terrific session musicians and producers who have worked on world-renowned projects and consistently work on scores for movies and television.   So we do have some real talent here.  But that isn’t the point.

We also happen to have some mediocre artists who dream of making the big time, and we have some mediocre artists who are content for playing gigs from time to time.  And we have some artists who if we’re being completely honest, aren’t so good, but have a dream of playing music – and if there is an audience who appreciates them, then why tear them down?

And as far as one’s intentions go, if you’re in a band to get laid, or to receive gratification or validation, or if you honestly want to make an impact on others’ lives, it really doesn’t matter as long as you have an audience who supports you.

I understand there will always be a pecking order of musicians here based on their demand, for all genres of music from punk to jazz. And that demand may be based on their talent, or how much other musicians like playing with them, or how much an audience loves them, but to tear down, or belittle another artist, is just elitist, and pitiful.

And of course if you are a talented musician and know your shit like no one else, it would be expected that you surround yourself with other musicians of your caliber.  I’ve seen the best of and the worst of bands here in town.  As the saying goes, “There’s no accounting for taste” and the proof always comes out in the pudding. Do you have an audience, or don’t you?

And please, we know some of you are more educated about music.  Congratulations. That doesn’t make you a better person.  Contributing and making a difference makes you a better person.

So if you’re in a band or playing as a solo artist and you make someone smile and make their day just a little better, then that my friend is the bottom line and to you I say you freakin’ rock.

Interview – Dean Dinning of Toad the Wet Sprocket

Toad the Wet SprocketToad the Wet Sprocket has their first release as a full band in at least 15 years.  It’s a big deal.  And we know it’s a big deal because when the guys in Toad went to fans for help on producing the album via Kickstarter, you won’t believe how quickly the band made their target of $50,000.

Ventura Rocks (VR):  I have been listening to the new CD, I’ve kept it constantly in my car for the past couple of weeks, I’m loving New Constellation.  I don’t understand how you can just pick out a song to push on radio because there are so many solid songs on there!

Dean DinningDean Dinning:  Well that is interesting, because we are about to release another single. We released the title track, “New Constellation,” as the first single; it got a little traction out there on the radio, but we’re ready to release another one.  This is the first time we’ve put out a record in 15 years, but thanks for things like i-Tunes where people can actually go on and sort of cherry pick the record and the songs that they like, it’s really kind of helped us find out what song should be the next single.  It’s interesting because you can take a look at what individual songs people seem to be responding to, and just go, “Oh, obviously, that’s what people want to hear, so let’s put that one out as a single.”

(VR):  Alright, so what’s going to be the second single then?

Dinning: It’s going to be a song called “The Moment.”

(VR):  Nice, very nice. I was putting my money on a bonus track, “Finally Fading.”

Dinning: It is a great song.  That song was previously on Glen’s solo album back in 2002 or so, and that’s the reason we didn’t put in the main listing of songs for the record or release it as a single.  One of the things we wanted to do was to put out something 100% new.

(VR):  Well that makes sense, you’d want to choose a song the whole band had done together as a group effort.

Dinning: Right, especially after all this time.  But it’s such a great song and we’ve been playing it live in concert and people really like it and are responding to it.  We do a really great version of that song, a little more rocking than the version Glen had done on his solo album.  While we were in the studio making the record, we didn’t know if other songs would turn out as good as we hoped, and we might need an up tempo pop single like that.  But as it turned out we had other songs that hopefully would do the job.

(VR):  As a former program director of a rock alternative radio station here in town, KXBS, The Bus, and I’d like to think I have an ear for what would work on radio but I have to say I’m having a hard time! “California Wasted”, “I’ll Bet on You”, “Get What you Want,” Is there Anyone Out There,”  “Life is Beautiful,” these are all solid songs.  You guys have got to be proud of what you did here.

New ConstellationDinning: We’re really happy with what we did, we had a great bunch of songs.  Before we made the record we went in and played for Mikal Blue, who is our producer.  He has a studio down in Thousand Oaks, we played for him absolutely everything we had. And some of the songs like “Bet on You” was originally another song that Todd Nicols, the guitar player, and I had done on a record we had done with a band that we had briefly after Toad called Lapdog, and we had done this song called, “See You Again.”  And I played that for Mikal Blue one day when we were in the studio and we were playing every idea that we had so we could make sure that some undiscovered gem would not be heard when we went to make the record.   And he just flipped out for “See You Again” and he worked on it and rearranged it and rewrote the lyrics and it’s a whole new song.

(VR):  It’s beautiful.

Dinning: You know you look at the album “New Constellation” as kind of a best of everything that we all been doing for the last 16 years I suppose, and us throwing it all in there and making a Toad record out of it.  But thank you!  That was the idea to have really strong songs with sing along choruses and stronger individual identities and hopefully it wouldn’t just all blend together.  We wanted something that would get people’s attention.

(VR):  Crazy good harmonies, you got the hooks up the wazoo.  It’s really nice.

Ok, Let’s talk about Kickstarter; from what I read, Toad was thinking it would take two months to hit your goal of $50,000, but it took so much less!  How did you get wind that this was going on?  Explain how it all unfolded.

kickstarterDinning: We were actually in New York out on a very short tour where we were scheduled to play at Willie Nelson’s 80th birthday celebration and the the Kickstarter went live during that time and we were watching it.  We all got the Kickstarter app for our phones and we were watching it in real time.  It was climbing so quickly…you know, it was unbelievable!  It was sort of like watching the individual song sales on i-Tunes.   (laughs) You know there’s this new fangled thing called the internet these days and you’re able to watch your project in real time as people are pledging and the numbers are just going up and up and up, and halfway through the first day we realized we were going to hit the goal the next day! And we did!  It was unbelievable, we set a $50,000 goal originally and we hit it in 20 hours.

(VR):  Oh My God!

Dinning: You know we had a feeling that our fans would really respond to the idea of Kickstarter, because they really wanted us to make a new record.  Our fans have been paying real money to buy tickets to come out and see us live for the last 15 years.  I mean we were broken up, we got back together, and we’ve been touring off and on pretty steadily since 2006.   But we had no idea that they would jump on it with that kind of enthusiasm.  And even at the end of the two months – well once we hit the original goal, we made another goal, which they call a stretch goal, And we said, Okay, if we get to $100,000, then we’ll throw in a live acoustic CD.  And people encouraged their friends, shared it on Facebook to get more people to participate.  Our fans just really showed up.  That’s the main thing that we found out just how much real love there was for the band out there in the world.

(VR):  What validation.  That is just so amazing.

Dean DinningDinning: And we did this other thing with Kickstarter where as soon as we hit our original funding goal which was really big, we didn’t expect to hit it that quickly, we wanted to let people hear the music, and that was the ideal all along.  The record was pretty much done, and we wanted people to be able to download it.  No one had ever done that on Kickstarter before; normally you have to wait until the end to even get the email addresses of the people who had pledged.  So we had to figure out a convoluted system.  We set up a second page where we would have to send messages to the backers and then have them put their email addresses on another page and we would send them a download for another site…you know, at the end of the day, we ended up with about the first 6,000 of the most diehard fans of the band got the download of this new record they had been waiting for, for all this time.
And as far as critical reviews, we’ve done really well, but having the fans love it as much as they did right off the bat…it made me feel like I really didn’t care if someone gave us a bad review now, because the people I care about love it.

(VR):  Exactly, and that is the bottom-line, It’s about the fan, the person who wants and knows and loves the band, someone who has always been there…and how they feel about it.   That’s all that really matters.

Dinning: Yeah, that’s what matters. And we got them first which was really really cool.

(VR):  What’s it like this time around?

Dinning: I can’t get over how fortunate we are to have all of these people who have stuck with us for so long.  The best reason to want to keep doing this music is the difference that it has made in people’s lives.  Every night going out there on stage and seeing their faces light up when we play a certain song, it’s the best thing in the world.  It’s pretty cool.

(VR):  And Glen’s voice seems to be holding up alright?

Dinning: It’s doing just fine.  We have a new rule where we don’t do more than four shows in a row, and he’s not spending too much time talking after the shows.  We do these big meet and greets after the show; we’ll go out in the lobby and take pictures and things.  People always want to engage in some very deep conversations, but he’s had to develop some sort of discipline to say, “You know I’d love to have this conversation, send me email on Facebook.”  The voice is something that you just can’t wear out. Talking is actually worse than singing.  So yeah, we’re holding up real well!

(VR):  What’s next for the band?  Continue doing what you’re doing?  Keep touring and see how long you can go with this?

Dinning: Yeah, that’s the great thing about doing this ourselves; we get to decide when it’s over. No one in an office somewhere is looking at a balance sheet – and our balance sheet is on the positive side – but no one is looking at it and saying, “We’re not going to put any more money into this.”  It’s up to us. The next single is going to go to radio right after Christmas, we’ve got tour dates in the West…it’s so odd, but we get calls to play on the East Coast all the time, and we have to schedule things more along the West Coast, so finally we’re getting to places like Salt Lake City and Seattle and Portland.  Things are so much more spread apart in the West, it’s harder to tour out here, and there are lots of places. So we invariably fine ourselves going up and down the East Coast and in the Mid West more than we make it out here to the West. But we’re going to do all those places in about two weeks in February and we’re looking forward to summer and the rest of 2014.

http://toadthewetsprocket.com/
https://www.facebook.com/toadthewetsprocketmusic
http://www.twitter.com/toadwetsprocket

Toad the Wet Sprocket

 

Top Ten Gift Ideas

The holidays are fast approaching and maybe you’re like my friend Lynn who finished shopping for perfect gifts months ago, or like me, you are still psyching yourself up to hit the shopping centers dreading the hordes of people, long lines and canned Christmas music.  Before you contemplate slipping into body armor, I have an idea!  (And if you know me you know what I’m about to say) Give the gift of music!  I’ve put together a list of a few artists who call the 805 their home or play in the area regularly.

  • White BuffaloThe White Buffalo’s latest release “Shadows Grey & Evil Ways” is deep, powerful, hypnotic. If you’re an avid fan of the popular biker saga Son’s of Anarchy you’ll recognize The Buffalo’s songs/voice woven beautifully into the storyline. Genre: Americana/Folk   www.thewhitebuffalo.com
  • Shane AlexanderShane Alexander  A voice blessed by the Gods along with amazing guitar work his newest effort “ Ladera“ will want you pressing repeat again and again. Genre: Folk/Pop/Rock www.shanealexandermusic.com
  • Delaney GibsonDelaney Gibson’s 3rd full length album “Tall Like the Tree” reflects her growth since moving out of Ventura and maturing through experiences in life and love.  Fans still get the satisfaction of her soaring vocals but with the added bonus of a fully formed lyricist. Genre: Pop/Theatrical  www.delaneygibson.com
  • john fullbrightJohn Fullbright’s first record was Grammy nominated and rightly so.  A brilliant songwriter we are waiting with bated breath for new stuff ‘cause we can’t get enough.  Until then “From the Ground Up” will do nicely. Genre Americana/Folk www.johnfullbrightmusic.com
  • Reverend Tall Tree Reverend Tall Tree & the Blackstrap Brothers, AKA Chris Pierce’s newest musical project, has finally recorded their soul stomping sounds. The self-titled album is in limited release. Snap them up quick.  Genre: Driving Blues/Gospel/Howling harmonica www.reverendtalltree.com
  • LissieLissie – On a world-wide tour in support of her newest record “Back to Forever”, smoky, explosive vocals, crazy-amazing hooks, Lissie harkens comparisons to Janis. But know this – she is absolutely her own woman.  Genre: Rock/Pop/Folk   www.lissie.com
  • Milk Carton KidsThe Milk Carton Kids – Joey Ryan & Kenneth Pattengale were solo artists who then joined forces a short three years ago and are conquering, bludgeoning, slaying the Americana world.  Zoey’s was honored to have been a part of their very first live recording “Retrospect “.  Pick that up along with “Prologue” and their latest “The Ash and Clay.” You’ll thank me later.  Genre: Folk/Americana   www.themilkcartonkids.com
  • Brian WrightBrian Wright thoughtfully weaves imaginative tales of pain, love and woe. Close your eyes and enjoy the ride of “Rattle Their Chains” Genre: Americana/Rock-n-Roll www.brianwrightmusic.com
  • MassengerMassenger. The ultimate Ventura Indie band their record “Massenger” is all things good about Ventura beach life. With the able bodied vocalist Sasha Green and support by Seth Pettersen this is a gem. Genre: Surf/punk/pop/rock www.massenger.bandcamp.com/
  • 50 Sticks of Dynamite50 Sticks of Dynamite – A fan of their live shows we do have to recognize the hardest working band in the city and their latest record “Love, Dream, Truth, Love”.  If only for the fact that lead singer Ian MacFadyen plays electric banjo! Genre: Banjo fueled Rock N Roll.  www.50sticks.com

Interview – Scotty Morris of Big Bad Voodoo Daddy

One of the hardest working, consistently touring bands around is Ventura’s very own Big Bad Voodoo Daddy (BBVD).  We got wind recently that the band had a new CD and it’s their second Christmas album at that.  I downloaded it from Amazon.com, gave it a listen and quickly got into the holiday spirits.  It’s quintessential Big Bad Voodoo Daddy doing  Christmas classics.  It doesn’t get any cooler than that!  So we  caught up with Scotty Morris (lead vocals, guitar, songwriter, bandleader, all around good guy) to get the lowdown.Big Bad Voodoo DaddyVentura Rocks:  So this is not Big Bad Voodoo Daddy’s first Christmas album.  Why a second one?

Scotty MorrisScotty Morris:  After the first Christmas album was released, we started touring behind it with our “Wild and Swingin Christmas party” and the tour just started to build a really large fan base. Every year it just kept getting bigger and more fun. So after ten years we felt it was time for a facelift.

VR:  How is this one different from the first?

Scotty:  This one is different in many ways, the first being that we tried to focus our attention on some of the more popular tunes, the classics and then try and really stay faithful to our sound, what we thought we could bring to these ‘Very’ recognizable tunes. And secondly and most importantly, we are just a better band then when we made the first one so it’s  just more interesting all in all.

VR:  Are they all Christmas covers?

Scotty: All but one song is a remake, the title track ‘It Feels Like Christmas Time’ it’s the only original tune on the record and probably one of my favorite tunes I have written to date.

VR:  What can people expect to hear?

Big Bad Voodoo DaddyScotty: People can expect to hear BBVD in top gear. This is a very eclectic mix of arrangements of very classic Christmas tunes performed by a band playing in top form. Very fun and really a good balance of what I think we do best.

VR:  BBVD remains a touring powerhouse.  I saw your current schedule, is that to support “It Feels Like Christmas Time” or is that still a typical month for the boys?

Scotty: The Christmas tour in support of ‘It Feels Like Christmas’ started on December 1st and will continue through the end of the year. And yes, that is a pretty typical month for us.
We will be home for Christmas, we fly home dec. 22 and leave again on the 27th, so if you see one of us surfing or at Trader Joe’s and we look a bit tired, you’ll know why:)

VR:  Glad to see you’ll be home for Christmas!   Will Ventura get a chance to see you anytime soon?

Scotty: Our next local performance will be at the Thousand Oaks Performing Art Center for New Year’s Eve. Hope to see Ventura in the house!

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy Official Website

Polly Hoganson The MusicMuse

I am super excited to join Pam and VenturaRocks.com as a guest writer on a semi regular basis!  I hope to bring insight as a former music venue owner, music lover, indie advocate and longtime resident of Ventura County on the music and art scene of the place I hold dear.   I will write out loud about – “how to” ideas for the DIY Indie band/artist, shine a spotlight on up and coming musicians, bring exclusive interviews of stars in the music industry who make the 805 their home, cool new music and find answers to – Can Ventura really be the new Austin?

My goal is to continue to build our Ventura County music community and focus on how amazing we are.  I’d love to hear from musicians who either are from or play in the 805 along with promoters, and all you music fans!  Send us the happening news.  Message me at therealmusicjunkie1@gmail.com   Let’s do this!

Polly

Ventura Rocks Welcomes Polly Hoganson

December 2013 – VenturaRocks.com welcomes Polly Hoganson on board as a staff columnist!!!

As you know, Polly and Steve ran Zoey’s and were pivotal in helping so many artists launch their careers, giving them a safe place to play as well as bringing national acts to town.  Ventura’s music scene would not be where it is today without them.  But now with Zoey’s behind them, Polly still believes in our music community more than ever and so we are proud to be able to provide a platform for Polly to stay connected to this amazing music scene.

We look forward to her column and reading advice for artists as well as insights for fans.

Photo by Gene Dunn

Polly & Meiko
Photo by Gene Dunn

Mario Calire and Friends at W20

Ventura’s music scene got just a tad cooler when Mario Calire and a couple of his Ozomatli bandmates and other good friends got together for a Thursday night show (Nov. 21, 2013) at W20 at the Watermark.  The night was amazing.  The boys put on one hell of a show!