Scene Less Podcast
Jerm from the Union and Metro Podcast ,discusses art, music and life with San Diego artists ,musicians and influential people who are working to bring the arts and music scene together. This podcast is a way to document the scene and The people in it. Jerm is known for being an artist , musician and skateboarder who booked and ran club SOMA in San Diego, California from 89-97 .Jerm also has been in bands such as P.O.U.R.,MEAT, cockroach! , URINE , Sin Sin 77, Tribe of fallen dreams, black, widow, prophecy, Morningstar, off with your head,Graveyard Dogs and many other projects as a bass player , vocals and primary song writer as well as an artist since early youth and owner of Red Rum Skates as well as sister companies with wife Miss V. Red Rum Skates was all hand painted skateboards and also had skate wax , wheels and more .
Currently in The Waste Aways .
Scene Less Podcast
Rewind episode John Arquillo (Beta 7, G-Spot) (Union and Metro Podcast )
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
John is currently in Beta 7 , you may remember him from the band G Spot.
https://www.facebook.com/john.arquilla?
This one was a fun one , you basically get dropped into 3 friends brainstorming and just having a great chat !
Jer , Jerm & John chat about the new name for G-Spot , Now Beta 7 . We jump right into it debating cancel culture and the rumor mill and its effects on bands .
We chat about his facebook page / documentary San Diego SKA in the 90,s documentary as well as facebook page . Highly recommend checking out his band page as well as the SKA page !
Jer and Jerm both will be interviewed in the documentary . We discuss the SKA scene and the lack of . We discuss the need for live music and the ways to adjust to the new covid era. Beta 7 played at the Halloween event at Sea World .
We discuss vinyl records , independent record labels, touring , NAPSTER and navigating producing music these days . pressing CD,s etc...
What is SKA ? what is punk rock ? what labels describes a band ?? Jerm references his bands , we debate AquaBats , Oingo Boingo , DEVO , English Beat , Madness . Big Bad Voodoo daddy and many more bands .
We really go deep into ideas for future shows !
shout out to Mikey Beats , San Diego.s Sea World , AquaBats ,
intro and outro music provided by Break Anchor .
logo design : Chris Armes
#AQUABATS #devo #OINGOBOINGO #SKA #PunkRock #SeaWorld #GSpot #BETA7
#punkrock #punkrocker #sandiego #jermaddams #thewasteaways #musichistory #punrockscene #punkrockhistory #podcast #podcaster #Diy #jermwarfareproductions #skateboards #artist #redrumskates #halloween #mars #museum #haunted #oddities #bassguitar #bassplayer #unionandmetropodcast https://youtube.com/@jermaddams?si=4bjqYtyh3tUaPCUd https://open.spotify.com/album/6WxUfbKnAAtKiNDphjHvmT?si=hM7myq-RQ0qtRIvskClG8A https://www.instagram.com/jerm_addams?utm_source=qr
So will you please introduce yourself?
SPEAKER_00Hey, what's going on? My name is Doug John lead vocals for G Spot back in the 90s.
SPEAKER_06So is that who we're listening to right now?
SPEAKER_00Yes, this is Till. This is one of our we we put this on a cassette the first time. We recorded in my uh apartment. Wow, my standing to stay was horrible.
SPEAKER_05That would be uh Psycholuna from 1997.
SPEAKER_00Uh no, we actually released a self-titled one and then we had our cassette we put in off the record before music trainer was around. Yeah. And that was the goal. It's like, you know what, we're gonna we're gonna put out a cassette and then we're just gonna quit because we've got a cassette out in Record Store.
SPEAKER_02That was always my goal. Is I wanted to be on vinyl, and I still haven't done it. Me neither.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, well, I can say I've never been on vinyl as well.
SPEAKER_02Well, I've stood on vinyl and cracked it.
SPEAKER_06But thrown it, thrown it at a couple people, you know.
SPEAKER_02That's true. And we also have Pete from Music Trader from God, what what years were you working there? I was there ninety-five to ninety-seven, I believe. Nice, nice. I d well, Music Trader for anyone that would know anything about what we were doing here, or especially the scene, knows that Music Trader was like God, it was hugely influential. One of my main stops is the many, many stops that are bring flyers and tickets and try to figure out uh the best placement in the window to have my shows above everyone else's. And then the flyers would end up at my house after. Yeah. Well, thank God, because you know, someone's taken history of that as as the photo album that we're looking at earlier, which was that's that's some crazy crap. I can't I some of those shows I I I barely even remember, but then looking at it, I was like, oh yeah, that's some good shit. Yeah, so thank you guys for showing up and let's talk some shit. You know? So, John, since we got you in here first and dropped a little music, so what what have you been up to lately?
SPEAKER_00I don't even know where to start, buddy. I just start with it. What do you want me to start? I mean like we yeah, like 2019 we got the band back together after maybe 15 years, and we started our bass player works for the city of Marietta, I think, and he's like, I cannot beat a band called G-Spot. It's just not gonna happen. We gotta change the name because I will get I won't get, you know, I won't get my promotions, or if they find out. I had to change some lyrics from from some more songs too, but uh, so we decided on beta seven. It took a long time, but it's basically beta. Say it's like our second attempt at what we were doing. And then seven, we have seven members again.
SPEAKER_02Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_00So, but uh, and then I started a I don't know, yeah, it's God documentary. So what we're doing, I'm doing a uh Stanigo in the 90s documentary. So basically the trying to encapsulate what happened from like 90 say 90. Well, it actually goes back to the 80s. Right. To like around 98. And then we're trying to encapsulate what happened um talking to a lot of the bands. I mean, nine 2019 during COVID, I was interviewing all kinds of people. Right. Crazy. Yeah, you were the were you the second or the second one?
SPEAKER_06Yeah, John Roger. Music playing here in the background.
SPEAKER_00Oh, that's uh well actually that's our new one. That's beta seven. It's a party file, right? Oh yeah, yeah. So but uh yeah, it's crazy because um you remember the 90s and the crowds and just crazy. Now it's like we started playing that again, and it was like it's weird, it's totally foreign now. Like now there's Facebook, there's social media, there's all this crap going on. And you know, we're just old guys, and we're like, how do we promote ourselves now if we didn't know? And I don't know, we just started we played our first show at the tower bar under G Spot, and it was like, okay, you know, we're gonna play this one show. If the kids, meaning kids, I'm like 50 years old now, so kids are like 20 to me now or 30. I'm like, if they like go, get the hell off the stage, old man, you're done. Then we're just gonna call it. We were just gonna call it uh it was cool we played, and you know, tower bar so freaking small. I mean 30 people looks like a sellout, you know? So we played around, I think maybe 30 or 40 people, and they they fucking loved it. And they're just there, these 20-year-olds are coming up, like, oh my god, do you have any other music? I'm all a shitload. We only learned like a little set.
SPEAKER_03You mean 21-year-olds because it's a bar.
SPEAKER_00Oh yeah, 21 years old.
SPEAKER_06Well, it could be.
SPEAKER_00Oh, wait, no, no, no, no, they don't do that.
SPEAKER_06But you mean they don't fake IDs anymore?
SPEAKER_00What's what's up? I was just talking about my talking to my friend when I was like 16 years old, we'd get fake IDs to go to the TJ.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, it was does that happen now though? I just wonder.
SPEAKER_03It probably does, but not at a bar like the tower, I doubt. I don't know if you've been to the tower. I love the tower, but I have not. Yeah, not at the tower. I doubt you.
SPEAKER_06I'm not an SD local. I you know, I live up north, so yeah, yeah. But my actual hangout was the Viper Room. I'd hang out there quite a bit, so because it's only like an hour from my pad, and I I know everybody that works there, so I used to get hooked up all the time. And then COVID hit, and no more Viper room. Oh.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00So we started I started something called Ska Punk Live. So I have a lot of background in like video and media, audio and photography. So I'm like, hey, let's try and get this scene back together somehow. So we started I started going out interviewing bands in the scene now, and then I'm like, hey, you know what? I'm gonna do a documentary. So we started this uh SD ska in the 90s documentary, and then we just I didn't know if anyone was gonna join the side or be into it, but I put a little Facebook group up, and it just like people were just like throwing stuff, all kinds of stuff, like flyers and videos and old pictures of their CDs, and and then Germ jumped in, and he was you know, from then like Mikey Beats and Germ, and then they started this the San Diego podcast yeah, the Soma Soma page. So I th it's kind of cool to see all these uh older people come in. Right. And it's funny because our shows now, one of the strangest shows we play, we opened up for uh Cashed Out. So it's you know it's a Johnny Cash band, and we're playing at a brewery, and we we I don't know how we got the gig, but then it was funny we're just sitting around because we had to play first and like, oh yeah, there's really good reggae band coming up. I'm like, I'm like, oh my god, dude, we're not reggae, we're far from reggae. And then like see it I don't understand that I'm like 50 years old right now, so I'm like looking at the I don't think any of us realize that no because I'm not 50, and I'm still toiling with the idea that I'm over 30.
SPEAKER_02You know, exactly and it I'm well above, well above I'm decently above fifty, so yeah, it it's well mentality-wise, he's not that far above.
SPEAKER_06He's 53. Come on. He just turned 53 on Hollywood.
SPEAKER_02You know, I'm gonna go around my skateboard tomorrow.
SPEAKER_06Hey guys, we're you know, if you're in your 50s, you're actually in your 30s. That's just the way it is.
SPEAKER_02It's yeah, but it's it's you know, it's music and it's I don't know. I I I can't believe one this fucking old.
SPEAKER_00You know, yeah, right? I mean, and that's the thing. So we were scared, we're like, oh crap, we're playing in front of like all these older people are looking out in the crowd, and we just like that's off. We started with Party Foul, and people were nodding their heads, they're like, Oh, yeah. I mean, they weren't moshing or anything, but then they're getting into it. So the whole set was really good. But they weren't like, hey, where's the reggae band? Yeah, no, they weren't like where's the reggae band? That's what I was scared of. But after that, they're buying us beers, like, oh my god, you know, we were we used to go to your shows and we used to go to scotch shows all the time, and then it just hit me like, oh my god, I'm old. That's what I was out there, it's like old.
SPEAKER_06So like everybody are we're all in our 50s here?
SPEAKER_03No. I just turned uh 46 in July.
SPEAKER_06Oh, so well, you're you're catching up. You're catching up.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I'm catching up. Oh, you're a baby. I have a few more years to go.
SPEAKER_06So at the at the Metro days, so you were you were a teenager. Yeah, I was in early high school.
SPEAKER_03But then you were I think you went on you were there when you were in your like 20 or yeah, I was mainly, I mean, I did go to the original Soma, and then uh most of it was what street was it? Metro.
SPEAKER_06Union Union and Metro.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, union was a original, and then the second one. Yeah, yeah, I spent most of my time there, but I went to the first one. I remember the the dungeon and the catwalk. I remember how cool the catwalk was when I was like 14. I'm like, that's the coolest thing I've ever been to, and stuff like that. Behind the stage, yeah. It was pretty awesome.
SPEAKER_06Behind and above the stage, I should say.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I don't remember that one as much as I remember the second one because I spent a lot of time there. I was I don't know. I might I want to say I felt like I was there four or five times a week at times for shows. Um most of the time I would be going to a show, and if it wasn't a band I liked, I was just hanging out with Jerem. Like seriously, like we would just hang out there, we come up and you know, just chill and whatever.
SPEAKER_06And that's kind of like what we were talking about, you know, everybody just hanging. So you didn't necessarily have to be there for a band just to come to hang out, something something to do on the weekend.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I mean it was it was there was a lot of that, and all the bands that I loved and saw. And you know, like you were saying, when I worked at Music Trader, we sold tickets for Soma. So I got into any show for free. You know, that was the cool one of the cool perks.
SPEAKER_06So which show which music trader did you work at?
SPEAKER_03I I managed Claremont and I managed Escondido, and then when I first started there, I worked at the college store and I worked at El Cajone and was the assistant manager in Powway. So you were everywhere. Yeah, I remember the you know, kids from Blink coming into my store, you know, and stuff like that. I remember we were just talking about Gabe Serbian from The Locust. Yep. Drummer was he would come into my store and like looked up to us, you know what I mean? I managed when I was in Escondido, Travis from Cattle Decapital Decapitation, yeah. Yeah, he was he I worked for he worked for me, you know. It's just funny, like and looking at all these people and like, whoa, look at them now, you know. So yeah, it was a crazy time. I mean, I had a lot of fun. Like I said, I went to a lot of shows there, had a great time, loved pretty much everybody that worked there. You know, just went there a lot and had a lot of fun. Because we all vibed.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, we all got along, actually. Yeah, that was uh yeah, really no angst with anybody over there.
SPEAKER_03No, no, everyone was super cool, and like you know, I had a lot of fun. Um, I actually stopped going to shows for a long time after because I was backstage at everything, and I gotta sit on the stage and watch the show and not get kicked in the head. And you know, when I started going to shows elsewhere, it was like, oh, this isn't fun anymore, you know. Definitely not the same when you're kicked in the head every when you have the VIP treatment. Exactly. I mean I did, it's true. It's true, you know. People asked me about bands, you know, you know, like who I saw back in the day, you know, and it's they're like, Oh wow, I can't believe you saw all these people.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, that then that time period was amazing for the bands that were coming out and just huge bands. Yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I had a question. So music creator, yes, who picked out the local music that got sold there, or did everyone get like a chance to sell their music?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, it was pretty much everything was on consignment. If you wanted to sell it there, we took it. Absolutely, yeah. Any you know, anything that you know, bands would come in and we put it on consignment, and you know, that was it. We sold a lot of local music. We were one of the bigger places. I know off the record was probably bigger than us at the time, but we had 16, 17 stores, something like that, or at our peak. It was a brilliant idea. The guy, Jeff Clark, who owned it, and then he sold it to this other company, and then all of a sudden, right when he sold it, like MP3 started coming out and Napster, and it collapsed. That would have been CD warehouse, right? Yeah, and then it completely collapsed. I think they were out of Texas or something. Yeah, I believe so. Yeah, something like that.
SPEAKER_00How fast did it collapse?
SPEAKER_03Probably a couple years, something like that. I mean, it was it was pretty quick. I left in ninety seven, I think. And that's when I started getting into the restaurant business all of a sudden. Um yeah, so I left there in like I think it was like ninety seven. I think I was there from ninety five to ninety-seven because I know I started there right before I turned 21. And then I was 21 when I was there.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I'm thinking you would that the tail end of my flyer route, I don't think that you were out of store anymore. Yeah, and you know, I left in 97 myself.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, he wasn't at a store anymore because I would have dealt with them and I was doing it. I remember you coming in. Do you remember? Yeah, absolutely. Because I was doing that full ticket and flyer route. Yep, yep, absolutely.
SPEAKER_03I remember that. That was hell. That was a hell different thing. I remember there was a lot of there's a lot of music traders. Yeah, like I said, I think it was like 16, 17, something like that, our peak. Just all over. Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER_00I want to know who designed the Soma flyer.
SPEAKER_02Okay, well, it's Soma Flyer. No back, oh god, in the early, early days, I remember we had a gal named Hope. My god, she was amazing, absolutely amazing. And it this is like seriously trying to pull out cobwebs and bones and and gravestones to try to remember this out of my memory, but I do remember in Hillcrest, so this is probably by the point so I'm gonna say early nineties, she was in Hillcrest. So I th it it was like kind of a generic thing. I would say probably the original design was a combination of Len and Hope, but Hope did our flyers. So if there was like a misspelling, you know, I had to be clear about every band and the way that they were spelled, which didn't always work out too well. So, you know, she would get yelled at if it wasn't spelled correctly and then had to redo it and blah blah blah. But I think the original generic design design and everything was was Len and Hope. And then it just kind of grew, you know, it just it was so generic and it was easily readable, you know, and one of the things that I would emphasize is other bands do their own stuff so that you know it made more sense, it made it more personal. But yeah, I mean as generic of a design it was, it became pretty symbolic.
SPEAKER_06And it and it was until Golden Voice took it over, because when Golden Voice took it over, that flyer went away, that design went away. Yeah. Because they had their own their own basically at the main office they had their own advertising people that would put stuff together, and basically it just became the band logos, you know, the actual stuff from the bands. Yeah. And or or they had some kind of funky generic thing that didn't stand out like the Soma flyer did. Right. Because those those Soma flyers are totally iconic.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_06And the fact that they were all neon colors as well.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, see, again, I I hate to give you know credit, but credit is due where credit is due. And that was kind of that was probably just on lens vision. Because I remember going to Kinko's, and then there's all these neon colors. I'm like, what the fuck is this? An 80 this isn't a Cindy Lauper club, but it worked. Because it stood out. And then who if anyone looked at any of the flyers that I made back in the day, I mean, come on. I have one of them tattooed on the back of my leg, and that's gonna be covered up at some point in my life if we get to it.
SPEAKER_06But that kind of that's kind of funny. I wonder if anybody ever took a flyer, like an old Soma flyer that was in a band and actually tattooed the whole flyer.
SPEAKER_03Oh. I've got to see this because I remember this one.
SPEAKER_02Well, it's the bondage one. It's the it it looks horrible because it was all done, you know, dot to dot, you know, needle poke style, but God, it's horrible. But that was the thing, is you know, eventually I started to even appreciate it. Being, you know, the the punk rocker that I was and completely against everything, it it made sense because it was recognizable. And then the bright color you can tell, okay, well, that's different than the week before, but it's the same art. You know. So it just proves that you know your mind is kind of it's tricked into appreciating something, and then you can add a little bit of diversity to understand it's been changed.
SPEAKER_06Well, the cool thing too with that flyer was every band had a different font. Yeah. So that kind of you know, one would be in the color, one would be in black. Yeah, you know, so and a little broken so you could see every band that was on the back.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, you can just see that flyer from a mile away from space.
SPEAKER_06That was a Soma flyer. And if that was no and if it was Lin's idea, I mean that was a pretty good idea to have it in Neon.
SPEAKER_00So dude, yeah, it's like you're looking at neon and you just see that. You could just you don't even you probably couldn't even read it. You just saw the shapes. Oh, yeah. And that's what that was that's great marketing.
SPEAKER_02Well, I mean, you can see it in in anything with marketing is something that has a bit of consistency. You know, your mind becomes more and more comfortable in relating that. But then with the different fonts and then the different sizes, and then to be able to scale it into a flyer. I mean, that's all you know, that's all hope. And we're looking at one right now with the total chaos built to to last cockroach and subversion. And you know, unfortunately, they didn't put the exclamation point after cockroach, but I didn't get on you know hope's ass about that because it's my band. And I I just I always felt lucky to actually be on a bill, you know.
SPEAKER_06Even when we played with fear, I was like, see what that's cool with them playing is Pete's saving those because he got them fresh when you dropped them off.
SPEAKER_03So he could save them like brand new, you know, keep them nice, good condition. And then they did the mini flyers for all the shows too that I remember having. Wow. But yeah, you're right. Like going back, oh, that was a great logo. But you're right. I mean, the flyers to me, like you know, looking back, like they were kind of boring, and I like seeing the local bands make their own flyers, but then you're right, they did stand. I mean, they do stand out. I mean, they're huge compared to any other venue. No other venue did anything.
SPEAKER_00I mean, being a local band, I didn't want to see my logo on there. I wanted it to see it on a Soma flyer with their fonts. And it was you yeah, it's just awesome because you like, wow, it's a form of justification that we've actually made. It's a total justification thing for any band to have you know be on a Soma flyer.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, and and now to look at the time, and now to look back at that and say, hey, I did that, I played there. How I mean, how cool it's just like you know, playing at CBGB's, it's not it's not there anymore.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. And then the flyers at other places, like I just saw one from the Casbaugh, and it's got like 50 bands on it for you know a bunch of different shows. So yeah, you're right. The Soma Flyer was great because it was separate, it was just for that show and per show. Yeah, exactly. So I mean they were iconic.
SPEAKER_06Everybody wants to do the cheap flyer now where they just put every cram every bit band on there and try to advertise everything all at one little space. And it's hard to read all those bands.
SPEAKER_02To me, it's a lack of emphasis of the importance of each show and each band playing. So basically, you know, if you have a single flyer with you know, with the bands that are playing on that, or if you have a listing of a month with all the different bands that are playing, then you're gonna look at it and go, okay, well, I I kinda like that show and I kinda like that show, but it's you know, it's jumbled up in a bunch of other shit. You know, it's like reading a book and then trying to remember, oh, I remember that one sentence.
SPEAKER_06It doesn't have the same importance unless it's you know Do you do you remember how we used to put all those flyers out there by the box office up front or all those staples that were all but the flyers would never last because kids could come and they would take the flyers off the wall.
SPEAKER_02So there was a thing I knew when I was doing my route that I would have to go by the club and I would have to put up some more flyers on the wall because they'd be down. And granted, it might take me two days to do the entire flyer route, but I worked seven days a week.
SPEAKER_06And the and the other thing is we promoted the shows in the reader. It wasn't the we didn't have the color flyer, but it was that long tab that was black and white. Yeah, that's the comedy. And it still stood out because I mean I'd always go into the reader and because a lot of times when we were doing shows, sometimes we didn't even know who was playing, you know. To find out that's how we'd find out who was coming to Soma. Unfortunately, I had to know, but opening the reader.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. I love I loved that every single week. Like the reader was like the coolest thing in the world when I was, you know, in my you know, early twenties seeing what bands were playing, and you know, it was exciting to me, you know, because maybe I didn't have a flyer yet for a show or something. Every Thursday. Yeah, yeah. Every Thursday. We had him at Music Trader, like that was a big that City Beat.
SPEAKER_00Did the reader come out? Yeah, did the reader come out?
SPEAKER_03Oh yeah, City Beat was the same thing for us, you know. I don't remember if you guys advertised in City Beat, but I remember you know that was No, I don't think we did.
SPEAKER_06I mean, I think City City Beat might have uh covered some shows. Yeah. But we didn't advertise. Our main advertising was the reader.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And that that again, you know, that was that was not my doing because if I would have gone in there, I won't I wouldn't have the credibility.
SPEAKER_06And and the other thing was the phone line. Yeah. That was the other way to find out who's playing. You just called in.
SPEAKER_02That that eventually that's a whole nother story, which is funny, is I know little about the phone line.
SPEAKER_06It was either Lynn and then once Lynn left, it was me. I was doing the phone line. It was a pain in the ass to phone line.
SPEAKER_03Was it was the address 555 or was that the phone number?
SPEAKER_06No, that was a 55 Metro.
SPEAKER_03Yep. Okay.
SPEAKER_06Or no 5305 Metro. Okay. I think actually 555. If you look at the flyer, it would say uh the it would have the phone number, I think, on the bottom. Or the front one right here. Let's see.
SPEAKER_02239 Soma, I believe.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, this it was it was a SOMA.
SPEAKER_02But we were at 555 Union. 239 Soma. There you go. Yep.
SPEAKER_06So that was that was the number you'd call to find out all the upcoming shows.
SPEAKER_02But that's back in the day where you were able to plan to manipulate your phone number as well by saying, Okay, well, I want these numbers.
SPEAKER_06Do you guys remember the voicemail thing?
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Hey, San Diego. Oh yeah. With uh Music Trader, one of our phone numbers was 444 cash, 444 cash, 444 cash. And we'd have the commercials, and then there was a couple others that were like, you know, 555 cash or whatever, because he like you said, you were able to manipulate it.
SPEAKER_06We'll give you a dollar for your CD. Yeah. CD, 18 bucks.
SPEAKER_02Bless Jeff for that. Jeff, you know, I'd you know, yeah. Jeff was brilliant with that. And he's well, we'll get into him at some point, but yeah, there was a lot of things that that worked back then, but one of the greatest things about the way that we were doing all the promotions and everything back then was things were simpler. And it was tangible to have something in your hand and have something in front of you. You can put it up on your wall, and it meant something. Even if it was up on your wall for like a month and then you covered it up with, you know, whatever. But it was something in your hands nowadays with everything on the social media, which is something I'm gonna come back to John on, where when it comes to promoting nowadays, because things seem so much easier. And is everything that we're trying to do now is to promote the podcast and trying to figure out all these things. You know, I'm I'm not a computer person. I I still draw stick figures on skateboards. And I've been doing this a long frickin' time. I still don't know how to promote myself. I've been an artist my entire life, and you know, I can't figure out the social media. I have to have my daughter come in and be like, oh, okay, well, you need to push this to turn it on. Oh. Well, I I thought it was on. No, it wasn't here. Let me let me get you a glass of water and a vitamin, old man. You gotta turn the frickin' thing on. So, like, to promote a show now, like how how do you guys promoting what's going on? How did you promote the last show?
SPEAKER_00You know what? We kind of went old school and we just told all the bands you have to get out there and you have to talk to your friends, you have to use your social media to get to these people. And then we were we're doing a lot of like I would interview, I was inter having these guys do interviews and about themselves, like, oh yeah, we're the blisters and we haven't been we're you know, we're coming out, blah blah blah, and they'd send us like videos and we'd make you know like basically flyer video flyers and we'd work those out. And but yeah, it was it's mainly it's kind of like back in the day, you know, like word of mouth. Yeah. And City Soul Club, you know, you know, you know those guys, Ernie, the they're like the DJ group. Uh unfortunately, no. Yeah, they're they're a bunch of like uh they've been around, they weren't they were the scott kids back when we were playing, and then they started their own little DJ group like in the 2000s.
SPEAKER_06Oh, the was that the DJ that was at the soda bar?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, those guys, yeah. So they we teamed up with them and they have so we teamed up with a lot of different promoters to promote that one show, like Spar Customs up in they do a lot of shows out of Carlsbad, and then the club itself, us with Skypunk Live, and we just like just hammered it online on Instagram and Facebook. And yeah, we just got lucky and they came out, you know, and but like I was telling you when we came back in 2019, like all the we didn't know. We you know, we you know, we understand we understood like social media and everything, but like promoting for a band, it's kind of hard, you know. Yeah, I mean, yeah, they would know about it, but not necessarily, yeah, we're gonna go. Yeah, we're gonna go. You know, you you look at your events and you're like like we would our first Sky Punk live shows, we'd have like 300 people say interested or going, and you're like, oh my god, this is gonna be great. Yeah, 80 people show up. But if you think it, but in but you think about at the scene like right now, or back in 2019, dude. I was talking to the guy, uh Brett, I think Brett from the Ken, and he's like, Yeah, I worked, yeah, I worked there for Brett Bodie. Yeah, Brett Bodie, yeah, he's a super cool guy, but he's just like, John, man. Sometimes we give like 20 people or maybe 30, and then and then it's like, man, you brought in 80. That's fucking amazing. So it's like weird. And yeah, it's just a lot of it's a lot of talking to people, and then we're mixing up shows, so we're doing like ska and like rockabilly. And then we had a ska show with the Morrissey cover band, tribute band is still L played, uh Johnny Deadly trio. So we mixed up the genres, like you know, Jerry Wood and I were talking about, and uh, we're just like pulling different sub-genres to come in and experience everyone's stuff. So the Rockabilly guys and the you know the tribute bands are gonna see us play and they're gonna see Johnny Deadly play and then the still ill guys, and they hopefully create m another fan base.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_00But then hopefully we build up our our you know, promoting you know, the sky punk live thing, like, oh well, there it's a sky punk live show, they usually have really good bands, we should so you're still establishing credibility. Still establishing credibility, but I mean we didn't we're not hardcore throwing shows all the time. I just kind of do it like every six months or so.
SPEAKER_02Right. No, and I've I've seen, and there's also all the regulations right now, which is kind of a sore thumb to talk about, but it it does make it harder because of the mixed messages, and there's people that aren't too sure whether or not they should go or whether or not they're gonna go and what's gonna happen, and where do you how do you kind of you know navigate that whole issue? Is it just a matter of mass production and and utilizing all sources to promote or you know what's weird?
SPEAKER_00Like when we played at Soda Bar with Bucko Nine, yeah, they were checking, you know, COVID, you know, your the vax cards and couldn't get in unless you're vaccine. Yeah, and it just depends. I mean, I'm gonna try and go to the Ken tonight and see what they're fine say. You're fine. Oh.
SPEAKER_03Oh no, but no, I worked I worked for Brett for 15 years. It's not even it's not even a COVID issue. They just it's just a bar. I mean, he's not gonna, I mean, I haven't heard anything. I worked for him for years. I think I would have heard by now. So I don't think you have any.
SPEAKER_06I think it's like it depends on the cloak.
SPEAKER_03It's up to the exactly, it's up to the other.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, because you know what was weird? You remember how they at the soda bar. Okay, so we did that show September 16th at the soda bar. They made everybody wear masks inside. Do you remember that? Everybody had to wear masks other than uh those people performing. So you didn't wear sunglasses, so I couldn't see anything.
SPEAKER_00I just saw like lights.
SPEAKER_06That was stupid. I chose the feature so bright, you're like I was over at the door selling merch with a mask on. Oh wow. So then, so then September 22nd, when Soulfly plays at Brick by Brick, right? No masks. Nobody had masks on.
SPEAKER_02See, that was one of the issues. I wanted to go because I want to see you on your birthday. Mind you, to today's what, October 6th of November.
SPEAKER_00November, brother. November. This year's almost everybody just had a birthday.
SPEAKER_02Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. I forgot it's even past my birthday. So, you know, the the miss messaging and everything, that's where I'm curious about is we're you know, everyone's trying to move forward and we're trying to rebuild this scene is the messaging and then the clubs and everything, because that's a that's a huge roadblock for anyone. Like, oh yeah, I might be able to get out because all you know, all of us are older. We have families.
SPEAKER_06Let me let me throw another thing in here. So that show at Soda Bar, it was sold out, but 50% of the people didn't show up because of having to be vaccinated.
SPEAKER_00Really? Oh wow. Oh, oh, that's crazy.
SPEAKER_06Yeah. Huh. Yeah. And I heard that's going on in other venues.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I think it really depends on the venue. It's probably just up to ownership more.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it really depends. But it also means that people want to get out, people want to see good music.
SPEAKER_06Well, it's also the city restrictions through environmental health. So whoever's whoever's enforcing like the mask mandates, or actually, I don't think they're mandating the vax, but the masks. But it's just weird how one venue you didn't have to wear a mask, the other venue you did. But at Brick, they did make you show proof of vaccination, or they were doing rap testing out front. Oh, really? Yeah, and I think they're charging I think they're charging 80 bucks. So, hey, you want to go to the show, you're gonna have to pay a ticket and you're gonna have to get tested.
SPEAKER_0080 bucks, yeah. That's great.
SPEAKER_03Ten bucks and beers or three bucks if you get a pass, but I think it's all up to owners. I mean, I work in a restaurant and we don't we don't have the guests, don't have to wear them. We still have to wear them because we're indoors also.
SPEAKER_06It's because of environmental health, they're enforcing that you guys wear them.
SPEAKER_03Well, no, it's it's it's our policy. It's not uh because I've been to plenty of restaurants where nobody wears. Oh, really? Yeah. I've gone to like several restaurants.
SPEAKER_06Because usually when you see those mandates that are posted out front, that's usually by the county or the city.
SPEAKER_03We don't have a mandate, it's a company thing, it's a company thing. It's it's the company I work for, and it's only for employees that are indoors. So I work at an indoor-outdoor restaurant, so yeah, we we just you know we wear them, you know.
SPEAKER_06Because I know Ventura Ventura County was there, the county itself was pushing the mask mandates. There was a lot of restaurant owners that would be like, No, we're not making people wear masks, and they would go in and pull their permits to operate. So they would shut them down basically.
SPEAKER_00Damn.
SPEAKER_03I've I mean, I mean, if we want to get into this, I could tell you about the mass mandates that we had um and how crazy. I mean, you know, whether you want to wear them, you don't want to wear them, it doesn't matter.
SPEAKER_06If you think about it, it's how stupid is it?
SPEAKER_03You you're going in there to eat. Well, no, that's what I was just gonna explain. That's what I was gonna explain to you.
SPEAKER_06So, yeah, it's so stupid.
SPEAKER_03I I I totally see your point, but at the same time, the reason I because guests would tell me that all the time, like constantly, like I had to tell people to wear masks. I had people, I had one guy that was gonna spit in my face over wearing a mask. It got to that point where he wanted to fight me because he had to wear a mask in my restaurant. But I did get a lot of the, you know, like, you know, having to do, having to wear it and then take it off when you're eating. The actual mandate when it came out was that if you were sitting at the table, you had to wear a mask, pull it down, eat, pull it up, eat, you know, so on and so forth. Nobody's gonna enforce that. That's ridiculous. Whether you believe in the mask or you don't believe in the mask, that's just past ridiculous. Okay.
SPEAKER_02So we should take our mask off during this podcast.
SPEAKER_03So with with a with a sitting down thing, the reason why we explained it to them is because when people would get up, my very first day back after the after we got shut down, my very first day back, I had some guy walk by me and sneeze right in my face. No mask. My whole point is is before COVID, I would punch you in the face if you sneezed in my face. Or you know what I mean? It was like this guy, I mean, what do you mean? Like if you're just hanging out before COVID, somebody sneezes in your face, you're like, what the what the fuck? You know what I mean? Yeah. So after it, that that was kind of like the whole thing. That's just my my restaurant view of of of what happened.
SPEAKER_06And that's also like the uh six-foot rule, like you're in the airport and you have to stand six feet away from each other, but then you get on the plane and you're all crammed in together. Yeah, it's all I mean, you know, it's it's all recycled air.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I mean, it's not, you know, yeah there's there's a lot of yeah, there's a lot of ridiculousness to the whole thing. I agree with you on that.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_03But at the same time, like I'm not gonna, you know, argue with you if you're vaccinated or not vaccinated. That's your choice. I always thought it was that way. I don't think I don't think that you should be forced to, in my opinion. And that's that's about as far as I'm gonna go with it. You know, I mean, it's your it's your choice. I don't think you should be forced. You know, that's just me. But unfortunately, some of us were forced to do it. Yeah, which sucks.
SPEAKER_00But you know what, San Diego, we have a really high vax rate right now. Yeah, so it's it's pretty much fine.
SPEAKER_03I mean, I'm high risk, so I mean I I did it because I'm high risk. Like I'd rather, you know, do it and feel a little bit safer than you know, get sick and possibly die because I'm high risk. So exactly, it's just kind of that's that's the way it was for me.
SPEAKER_00But moving forward with shows. The funny thing is, is yeah, when we did that show, I mean, we we didn't think we were gonna get like a hundred people, and this is like an outdoor venue that can fit it could actually fit like 500 people in that place, right? But they cap it at 300 because I guess they the city told them they can only do like 300. But yeah, we ended up bringing in like 340. It was a trip. Yeah, so it was a fun show. It was like it was just great. I it felt like sort of like the 90s, but not really as crazy. So no mask mandate at your show. No one had masks on other than other than the soda bar show. I guess. Well, I didn't know they were wearing masks. I was like, I guess I saw them wearing we were all wearing masks. We were all wearing masks.
SPEAKER_06Everybody in the crowd, unless you were drinking, you had to pull you had to pull the mask down, drink your beer, pull it back up. Oh wow.
SPEAKER_02But that's good then if if people were willing to go through all that, because I've noticed that in the beginning with the shows that I had done with the kids that I was working with, there was so many, you know, the the messaging is so wishy-washy, and I wasn't sure what you know the next mandate that's coming out, right? The the one that's been turned down now.
SPEAKER_06No, no, we're gonna all have to wear Hasway suits or hazmat suits, I should say. Well with air tanks on.
SPEAKER_02You know, I I recommend everyone wear a gas mask when we're doing the podcast, just in case I have too much mole.
SPEAKER_03You have some. I'm like, we're about them earlier.
SPEAKER_06I don't think you're breathing this gas mask. I don't think we could uh actually, I don't think we'd sound very well if we're wearing those masks. But yeah, but do you also win you know I had mole earlier? Just didn't have the I had to wear a gas mask in Desert Storm, man.
SPEAKER_02Oh that'd be horrible. Can you imagine going to I mean the whole thing is like what a bigger like absolute buffer. We're trying to create like a scene again. We're trying to we're trying to come back from something that's completely just knocked everything out. And here we are, we we got bands that are willing to come back together. I mean, just sitting here at this table, I mean the four of us with my wife, I mean this is this is amazing. This wouldn't happen ten years ago, but because of COVID, it's actually happening, and people are are like anxious to get back in this scene. They're anxious to start talking. We're we we're creating bands again, we're getting bands back together. So we're proving as a town and as a community and as a scene that we want to take something above what's happened, and we want we want to have normalcy and we want to be San Diego again. This scene is is you know it's called We Wanna Live and we're stronger than that. You know, we just we're we want our freedoms back. Yeah. And it's uh it's the main thing to me that like that makes this podcast work is the fact that there's so much talent and there's so many people that have been part of this scene in San Diego that have literally been it's it's my life, as we all know, as I talk about it more and more, from 89 till now. This music scene in San Diego is just so incredible and is it's got so much strength.
SPEAKER_06So we gotta get John back in here and and go over some of the history of of uh G Spot, especially because I didn't know at your age, I didn't know you were 50. Thank you.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, you're welcome. Well, he thought I was older, so you know. I thought I thought you were close. Yeah, but you're pretty close. So back to uh thank you for your service. And you must have started at Soma like almost right after then, right? Maybe a couple years after three or four years after, I guess.
SPEAKER_06Actually, I was still in the Navy when I started at Soma.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, it was so 'cause Desert Storm was ninety ninety one.
SPEAKER_06Yeah. So actually Desert Shield was ninety, and then we started Desert Storm. Actually, my squadron launched the first strike that started Desert Storm, and that was I think it was January 15th of 1991. But I I was in the Navy from 89 to 97. Okay. So I actually got out of the Navy and I was running, pretty much running. That's when I took over for Jerome. So yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. There it wasn't there a few shows where you weren't able to do because I'm trying to think there was there was a few shows I wasn't able to do because of either reserve service or wasn't there something?
SPEAKER_06No, I was active duty. I did eight years of active duty. No, there was times where I had actual duty that had to stand on the weekend where I had to be had to be at the lab for you know 24 hours. So then sometimes I had to train reservists that would come on in on the weekend, that'd usually be my my duty as well. Okay.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I'm trying to remember.
SPEAKER_06I remember that. And then we when we did stand, our watches, you know, basically were on call for any incidents where they needed a photographer. And a lot of times we'd, you know, crime scene stuff were NIS back then, which is now NCIS. Or if there was an accident, you know, we had to be there to uh record it. Right.
SPEAKER_02So it wasn't like you had full reign just to and and and again had no range, it's I was owned, I was government property. That's the difference between he and I I was owned by the club. Yeah. I I had you were there like 24-7.
SPEAKER_06But if if you think about it, we're pretty much all owned by our jobs, you know, we're slave to the slaves to the almighty dollar, unless unless we won the lotto.
SPEAKER_02But that just proves, I mean, we we well, I I griped and complained a lot, and I yelled and spat and cussed and but you know, we did it because of the greater good of things.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I mean it was those times like going back like that was those were some of the best times of my life, like going to shows and stuff and seeing all these bands and you know, so on and so forth, and and like you were saying, the scene in San Diego, like I mean, what scene was bigger than us at the time, maybe like Seattle prior.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, I think with all the I think you're right, yeah, with the grunge scene, and yeah, they were actually trying to say that San Diego would be the next Seattle.
SPEAKER_03And I'm sorry, also the East Bay scene, I mean, with all the Lookout Records and Rancid and Green Day and Operation Ivy and No Effect. Well, No Effects wasn't East Bay, but you know, all those bands, you know, on Lookout Records. Like I remember when Lookout worked back to Music Trader, um, when I worked at the Pow Way store, we had probably the best vinyl collection in San Diego. I mean, off the record might have had a little bit better, but not much. You know, myself and uh remember Paul Behan, oh yeah, um, we took over that store and we were, you know, we became friends with Lookout Records. We would go up to Lookout Records, we would hang out there, you know, we'd go to all those shows, we'd go to Gilman Street. That's how I got, you know, I started learning about a lot of things, going there and seeing 15 Jeff Otts band, yeah, you know, from Crimshrine and stuff, and yeah, and going to see Winona Writers and like all these, you know, bands back in the day. Unfortunately, I never got to see Filth or Blats, but you know, the old lookout bands and stuff, and and learning, you know, about clubs and stuff and how different it was up there. But just bringing that down and then like all the you know, bands that succeeded here in San Diego, like it's a passion. It was it was more than there was always a good show. Yeah, there was there was multiple good shows every week. Like I remember Jawbreaker and 15 played on the same night, and 15 played at Soma, and Jawbreaker played at I think World Beat Center, and I remember Jeff Ott, I went to the Jawbreaker show because that was my favorite band, and and Jeff Ott um was saying how pissed off he was that he couldn't go see his friends play at another club because he had to play a show at another club. So, you know, just you know, showing you know how the scene was and everything and and all those bands that came here. I mean, it was pretty much any band that you wanted to see came to Soma, you know, for the most part. I mean, Jawbreaker played with the queers there. It was the only show I ever missed by them because I was in um back east because it was Thanksgiving.
SPEAKER_06That dog was that the other band that played there?
SPEAKER_03Might have been.
SPEAKER_06On that line, that was a Casball show too.
SPEAKER_03Or I know Jawbox played with Jawbreaker. I don't think that was that show though. I think it was I think that dog sounds familiar. I had the flyer, I'll send you guys a picture of it because you know I have all my flyers. But yeah, I mean, you know, it was it was a great time. You'd see all these bands that you didn't, you know, know and stuff. Like I remember you guys playing there, and I believe I I want to say you guys played at Soul Kitchen. I feel like Yeah, we played like everywhere.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_03I mean, I remember seeing, you know, but it was yeah, it was it was a great time back then, you know.
SPEAKER_00So, Jeremy, what do you what are you seeing in the local scene right now? What what is your take on it? I mean, you've been checking it out, right, for about a year.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. It well there's there's a whole oh my god, there's a rash of of new talent out. And the m the main thing that I'm trying to figure out is how these bands are actually promoting themselves on social media and getting any real hype. It seems still really kind of separatist in a way, for lack of better terms. And it's I don't really see anyone there's like nothing local that makes anyone shine. You know, it's just the same old same old just you know there's a seems to be a bunch of bands. The more and more I research into it I'm finding more and more bands. But there's not there's no congruity into anything and it doesn't really tie anything all together. It reminds me of basically when I started in eighty nine trying to bring bands together. But I'm not you know I'm not big on social media and all that so I can't really follow it but there there's not it doesn't seem like there's one source that promotes it. Right. You know it's it's all about and again I go I always go back to this it seems like it's always about the almighty dollar that rules whatever gets the popularity. So I'm what I do appreciate and which I brought up and I've talked to Jerry about this many times before or at least a few times before is it seems like what you're doing in the shows that you're doing and what we've talked about is you're kind of bringing that together. You're bringing the unity where everything just is so it's just out there.
SPEAKER_00Yeah there's it's it's strange because yeah I've been really looking into the scene and there's there is an all ages scene and it's I don't know what type of music is. It's more like some kind of alterno kind of emo-esque kind of punk but there's like an all-ages scene I I went I think I was telling you I went to a show in Lemon Grove at the a it was Lion's Den Tattoo Shop. So it was PSO that's one of the bands cardboard boxer Wacko but I was I watched a couple there's like 300 kids there and they're just going nuts. And it was like I was like wow there's something going on here and then I just got in touch with one of my friends like you know my older friends has his son's like 20 now and he's out there taking pictures of all these underground local shows these kids shows and I'm going to one tomorrow at the music box. I'm gonna do like some video and try and like you know talk to these bands and stuff. But yeah they're they're at it you know Queen Beast you know about that venue yeah I've I've heard about it but I yeah it's they're it's growing it's kind of god it's reminiscent of like the old cafes back in the 90s when like Shea Cafe type place or like Shea I remember Cafe Mesopotamia Lemon Grove and you know living room type what was that one in downtown on 16th Street? It was Chava Lava Chavalava I don't know if I recognize the name but it's reminiscent of that what's going on right now in this like all ages underground scene and like I'm finally figuring this all out and I'm like hold crap. And so I'm trying to hopefully meld like the older guys and the new up and coming guys and do shows that are like together so we can bring hopefully there's probably more the younger kids watching the older bands.
SPEAKER_03Yeah but then some of the you know older you know people come out watch us and then maybe get into the younger bands and maybe that could maybe spark something maybe I think the problem with a lot of things nowadays is like not having all the music stores like I don't know if you guys remember Blue Meanie and El Cahon like that was my first record store and then off the record and music trader and so on and so forth. Normal and back to yeah and then and cow isn't there cow records and no bee or something like that. Cal records down in no B. But um that's where you would get there was lose too yeah los yeah that's where you would get a lot of things but back to the promoting thing like you're talking about like we were talking before the podcast there was uh that band Swindle and they were at every single show and they were promoting and flyering and they were at you know always constantly doing it and and you know if you also remember they were I don't know how many I don't know if you did it but they had a mailing list. So you would sign up on the mailing list. This is before email and you would get well maybe not before email but nobody had email yeah you might have been I know it was probably expensive for them. You might have had a stamps what was that thing called uh AOL account you know back in the day. Oh yeah but um yeah they would be you know you'd sign up for their thing and they would they would send you and you would you know remember shows and it was great but the problem with social media now like you're saying is is that there's not you know you can promote your shows but if you're a newer band you're promoting to your friends only like you guys you know friends have been around for a long time so you could promote to the you know the younger ones and then the older ones like us that you know go to shows. I'm like I haven't been to a show in years just because I got burnt out and I'm like I want to come see you guys like when are you playing next like let me know you know and I'll add your you know on Facebook or Instagram your your ska documentary and everything like I'm I'm totally stoked and interested about it now. Yeah it's you know that kind of stuff.
SPEAKER_00But yeah actually I do think you know the doing the the ska punk live and then the documentary that kind of like got people fired up a little bit it did especially like on the sc end of it I know you guys then you guys started the Soma thing and that Mikey gets the credit for that and then he dragged us in so to get into it.
SPEAKER_06But again you started it because you got us interested in doing like hey he's talking about the San Diego ska scene we should talk about everything. Yeah but more based toward toward Soma because that's what we did.
SPEAKER_02Yeah because we can't really but mind you again onto anything to come full circle if it wasn't for the scar scene I would have not have started what I did at Soma. So Soma would not be what it is today if it wasn't for the scossing embracing this dumb old punk rocker coming around to watch shows. I mean that's just facts because again in like I told you when we had met in the very beginning talking about this the ska scene just it was so about unity and music and and good vibes and it it already comes from a culture of bringing in cultures and it was open to you know punk rockers ska rockabilly reggae rockers this if you just want to come and dance you you you go to a ska show so that whole unity and that whole revolution I mean it's time for that to start working towards the future the the problem is for us old people to figure out how to get in touch with the kids and to let them know that we're not coming in to destroy the scene. And not to come in with the attitude and the ego of oh we're better than you we know what the fuck we're doing because you know what that's what happened with us. We came into it going well we've seen what they did before us and that's where I struggle is I don't know how to really I I know what I I know what I did thirty something years ago but I don't I don't know how to approach the kids and be like you know I've tried but I don't really know how to approach the kids and be like hey you know I have a formula that worked. I mean that's you know and I don't want to I'll I'll sh I'll shoot an arrow over the bow but thirty five fucking years but no it's it's just over thirty years. It's still running it was a formula that worked. Let's get back to locals let's work with the local bands.
SPEAKER_06Let's unite the scenes because it's all about music and art and entertainment granted I can't jump on an iPhone and and Google whatever the like we were saying earlier though it wasn't just about that it was just about people hanging out.
SPEAKER_02Yeah because people would talk I mean you you talk to someone you you tell you know you tell your neighbor oh man dude I've seen this band and they were called cockroach oh my god the singer was man that guy needs therapy you know he needs therapy you gotta go and watch him though you know he's crazy crazy clothes I don't really like that I I like the rolling stones well this guy crawled up into Mick Jagger's ass and he started screaming it was brilliant well I could probably go and see that if the wife allows me do they play early enough because I go to bed early you know what I mean you know why okay you know why that the show we says the guys got about ready to go to bed I know right our show started at five o'clock it ended at 10 so it was I think that's kind of the the for the us older guys that's like the perfect time you know oh yeah you know you start it because you gotta understand like some of us may you know like I'm like bloomer I I have kids they're only like 14 and 12 you know so I can't like leave them alone at home all of a six year old until yeah there you go I started when I was 40.
SPEAKER_00Yeah yeah but if you can go to a show with your wife and say hey I'll get a sitter till like 10 or 11 that's doable you know not till like midnight or one because then when we started playing again they always wanted us to close yeah and we're like dude that's like one o'clock in the morning man no one wants to stay out that like even on a Friday it doesn't even matter if it's the weekend you know everyone's constitution they they sleep at 10 or they're getting tired really tired at 10 you know they're not gonna stay out and if they drank two beers they're probably almost out by nine so yeah yeah that that show five to ten was like perfect yeah yeah and I I like that idea too because the fact that if the kids are gonna be staying out later during that it it seems like a different time where I would I would close out a bar at two and be like isn't there another band I need some talent to bring to the club and no I I just need another beer because I didn't want to go home and be alone because I'm used to working till four or five in the morning.
SPEAKER_02I get up at you know no later than four thirty in the morning I'm up I'm on my phone going okay what emails do I have to answer at five in the morning after I've already been showered and I've brushed my beard which takes a while so you know times have changed but to reach those kids and let them know that you know the gray hair doesn't mean that we're you know we're your parents that's the thing and then to go into it without you know the ego of like hey you should worship me because I did this 30 years ago you know that's never worked and it's not gonna work this pushes them away.
SPEAKER_06Well the the thing too bringing up uh going back to the past like when we were in our 20s doing Soma I mean we're like I was 25 you were 26 you know even Mikey bringing up oh I was 16 you guys were old to me oh yeah I was 21 when I started doing this crap I'm I yeah I I just barely 21. So it's it's they're the way they was old it's the way they looked at us then like yeah we're running things and right they I don't know if it was respect or disrespect but they thought we were old.
SPEAKER_03Yeah we were the man when we were 20s yeah I mean like right like right now at work like with my my uh team members my employees like we'll be talking about shows and stuff and I'll be like yeah I saw da da da da da da and blah blah blah and they're like you did what you saw who you know like these bands you know it's you wrote in on dinosaur you well yeah exactly they're like you were into punk rock you were into this you know I mean I I was never what's a studebaker I was never a punk rocker but I mean you know I listened to the music and it's just it's funny when you you tell them like oh I saw these bands and I hung out with these people and yada yada yada and they're like wow did you ever break out Pete's comp? Oh geez no I do have a great story about Pete's comp but we could probably say for another time but uh when I worked I'll just tell it real quick when I worked at uh I worked at Geico several years ago I was a claims adjuster and I you saved me a lot of money and I appreciate that just throwing it out there you wouldn't even believe some of the stuff people like you know they had that commercial where the guy skydives to the car and like people actually thought that happened. Yeah I came double for that I came back from lunch and somebody went to Music Trader on their break and they found somehow found the CD and I came back and my whole entire cubicle was covered with Pete's comp oh everywhere. So that's actually going to be uh next year's the 25th anniversary of that coming up so maybe we can get that show together. We'll do that and no actually we have to make it happen.
SPEAKER_02I mean we John Cougar's still local um I've I'll you know we we can try to get a hold of Chris you know goes way back in my history.
SPEAKER_03Yeah I I I've I can try and definitely get get with them swindle I think there's only one person that lives in San Diego. I think it's just Mark yeah Carter sorry Carter Peace Mission I don't know if anybody's from Carter Peace Mission lives here anymore.
SPEAKER_02No oh my god I remember Carter Peace Mission.
SPEAKER_03Who had contacts with those guys I had contacts with all of them dodgeball still have contacts yeah you can probably find them definitely I know that I think she's Monica I think she still lives here no no they don't they're in Islewild but Colin and Monica cockroach yeah that's right cockroach so you guys are unique show ready to go spazboy show you had Jay on right yeah so yeah was on the comp.
SPEAKER_02Um oh my god I wouldn't even want to do a cockroach I would just love to see dodgeball and spaz boy I mean come on Agent 51 just had Chris and caught just everyone you've yeah we can we could get all those bands together pretty much yeah 25th anniversary there you go well these are all these are all subject bands for doing something with John too as well I mean that's that's the whole thing is you know the the premise of this show is to bring these stories back and to and to talk with all you guys because it to me it's it just I c I can't even explain how exciting this is. But to be able to do something and bring these bands back so we slowly bring the kids in. I mean our daughter my wife and I is she's 21 I bring up Venom lyrics and she looks at me like I'm frickin' insane. She looks at me that way all the time. But because you are well ain't that the truth but we gotta we gotta we gotta get John in here poor meat I've been in some terrible bands but the fact of the matter is good music is good music and these these kids know good music when they hear it and there was a lot of that this town I mean you know like so V brought out the the it's gonna blow DVD that was done the pseudo documentary. Doesn't it blow? Yeah it blows because it doesn't touch base on a lot of the bands that the some of the names at the bottom that they're giving credit to I don't even know who those people are. But there's so many bands that played so much and I don't I don't like taking credit of oh they played for me. No no no no no no we were we're all part of a scene right you know and the ska scene and again to to harp on this because it's the absolute truth if it wasn't for the scar scene I wouldn't have done what I did with the San Diego so there would be no Blink 182 there'd be no POD there'd be no Sprung Monkey well whoever made it to the point of of you know all the popularity these documentaries don't talk about it. So we're talking about John's already started it and you triggered this whole event we wouldn't be here right now if you didn't trigger if it wasn't for you the trigger you started this whole thing so we gotta we gotta get back to G Spot actually we gotta get some history in here.
SPEAKER_06Yeah so when did when did G Spot actually form?
SPEAKER_00Ooh so that I think it was like '92 so my good friend John Jackson I've known since I was in seventh grade john jackson john jackson cockroach baseball so we we started a band and we I started with him and we found our first guitarist and we're just doing like cover bands like yeah we should do a ska band but it was really horrible and then we just started getting better picking up we made friends with our old high school buddies that were in band of course and that's where we got all the horns and then at one time we had like two sacks for phone players two trampo players two drum phone players it was like a madhouse and you know then you know things happen people fall out because they do drugs and a lot of drugs bad drugs.
SPEAKER_06Or they just don't get along with everybody and they're or they're they're not dedicated to the music that's the everyone got along until they started doing drugs.
SPEAKER_02Drugs and then drugs just destroyed and then half the band left and then what kind of drugs were you guys doing they're all meth broad they started off with the weed and then they ended with the meth it's a gateway drug that's what I was going to say anyway but um but then yeah then we we reformed and we got two new horn players and then Psycholuna came out and then did you guys ever play union one time oh so you did play one time the dungeon one time and then it turned to Metro who uh so that was uh 94 at union at union before had to be yeah like 94 yeah yeah it was yeah it was like right before that book it with I don't know I wish you can find the flyer if you have the flyer it would like that's nostalgia it does it does you can find that flyer oh my we played one time because I do remember when I when I started if you can find that you're you're god if you can find that flyer I I've got my books somewhere that but they're probably been burned and ashed and but I do remember that because when I started booking Metro it was like I was in a different level it wasn't as easy it it I had to be calculated like I couldn't bl book blink 182 anymore because they were horrible and everyone fucking hated them and what they were still called blink or it wasn't that wasn't the same with the Rage Against the Machine and Offspring weren't they horrible too and everybody hated them? Well no rage was alright but offspring yeah I I got a bunch of crap for that because they they just they were horrible but I'm trying to rem so it was it might have been through God because back then it would be daddy long legs and you know Damien was just I mean I mean it's Damien. I mean God wherever he is right now man I love that didn't he used to work at the catwalk I d I don't remember I just know that that guy type store was catwalk like a gamma gamma type store type yeah just seeing him just made me feel good about life you know what I mean but there was again it goes back to there's certain bands and from that scene and you got like Craig from at that time he would have been coming out of spy kids but again like honestly you know I I booked a lot of metal I booked I fuck I booked anything that was local that I thought might have a chance or deserve something but you guys were one of those I do remember I don't remember who I booked it with sorry but I do remember that you guys had that that thing that I wanted and I I had to get behind it. I had to promote it because it was worthy cockroach it wasn't cockroach because we were horrible that we were great but no it was you know when when you meet certain people and you can just tell that you know when you love something that much and you're trying that hard you're a fool if you don't get behind it. It's like a parent if you don't support your children and what their dreams are then you're a fucking fool because you're holding back from something that could be and you're just you gotta keep your ego out of the fucking way.
SPEAKER_00And you know that's exactly the pro I don't know I think I don't see anybody like you in the scene right now. Because I was in cockroach but it's like I I don't see I know there's good bands out there, you know but well it's it's it's corporate now everything's corporate.
SPEAKER_06It's all about it's all about making money. Right. Of course you know it takes money to make things work but it it's there's no love in it. I don't think uh people enjoy it anymore. You know People that are it's become a business. It's it's a business, and people you know that are in promoting and it's all commercial, it's just not the same.
SPEAKER_02You can't you can't promote art and you gotta think of it like every band to me was uh was a part of my family. Because it gave me a reason to be up there. I mean, I'm a stupid punk rocker. You know, I'm an artist.
SPEAKER_06If you guys really think about Metro and Union those days, and even the beginning of some SD, it was more do it yourself. So it we weren't really I mean, we you know, we put the ads in the reader, but it wasn't it just wasn't corporate.
SPEAKER_03No. But what like nowadays, like where are you gonna find these these bands that you guys used to book back in the day? I mean, what was the capacity at I guess YouTube is where you're gonna find out?
SPEAKER_02I was gonna I was gonna 998, I believe, was Union, but then that was stretched on whatever fire marshal had a kid that wanted to get in 1375 at at Metro.
SPEAKER_03Okay, yeah, because my question was gonna be like back then when we we'd see bands like you know that ended up getting big, like a rancid and green day and stuff. I know I don't think Green Day played it the they played at the first one, I believe. No, they played they played a metro. Okay. So with those bands, like I mean, Rancid just played at uh Petco with dropkick. Like, I mean, do you think uh do you think they would play a show like that at a smaller club nowadays?
SPEAKER_06Look at Smashing Pumpkins. They did the two nights at Soma in Mexico. No, but that was 20 years. I'm talking about now. But they were huge. They played I don't know about now. I don't think there are people they played at the sports arena before that. There is bands that want to do more intimate shows, so they're playing smaller venues. I mean, even Nine Inch Nails played Soma SD.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, but that place holds 2,500. Yeah, and then like you know, we were saying with booking the shows and stuff, did you did Soma was it a was it a money thing for some of those bands that wanted to play? You would have played Soma instead of well there there was guarantees that were put in. Yeah, okay, so because I'm trying to remember what other clubs, big club, I mean there wasn't many big clubs back then, right? Soul Kitchen would probably held what like a hundred people?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, well we did have a niche, definitely. But there was you know, back then, and so w we're dealing with management and and and other entities of of of money. I th I would like to think in my own, you know, glorified ideas and and thoughts and process that a lot of it was bands had the opportunity to make their own decisions. I cannot speak for the bands, but I know that for a f absolute fact that when certain entities came into the whose names I will not mention because this is when I'm gonna get really fucking personal, that when certain entities came in that yes, money was more important than playing for fans and playing for the scene. And we've seen a lot of bands turn that way. Like when I was sitting in my fucking closet and my friend Jenna called me up and said, you know, I've I've told this story a million times, but you know, I would like you to you know think about booking the spam, Green Day, and I'm organizing my docs because I'm OCD and I'm you know, Corus Light called and said we needed to drink a lot more of our beer, and they never did, but I thought that and I was really drunk. So I'm organizing my docs, and she asked me about booking Green Day. So I ended up booking Green Day. They did all right. The powers that be kind of took it over eventually, and that was the whole system is once you worked with me for so long, the power that be took you over and took you to that different level. You work with me, now you're making money. So now you you become a product. And it's probably the first time I really said it this way, but yes, that's the way that this music business works. You have an art, you're an artist, you have a product, you're art. You have someone who wants that, who wants to make more money than you will off of it.
SPEAKER_06Well, yeah, they're gonna always sell to the highest bidder. Yeah, that's just the way it is.
SPEAKER_02So then eventually you're you're sold up and up and up and up. But the thing is, I never lost that passion for the people. And you know, granted, they you know, I can't get a hey, how are you doing? Phone call. But fuck that. I mean, we're all artists. I'm an artist.
SPEAKER_06But like uh, like what people saying though, you know, at that time, like Metro, there was the smaller, smaller venues, Soul Kitchen, Shake FT. Yeah, which was really yeah, they were really small compared to Snowden.
SPEAKER_02They were basically our side stage.
SPEAKER_06So, yeah, yeah. So basically, we were the in between, you know, we were the middle, the middle. Because then, yeah, you'd be going to the arena until you know that was before Coors Amphitheater existed. That was before House of Blues was doing anything.
SPEAKER_03So, yeah, we were kind of had Izod had his single and the showcase. Oh, yeah, and then we were talking about earlier the shows, those the New Year's shows for Soma were at the sports arena. You would have like, what was it, like 15, 20 bands? 20 bands, and it would go out. I don't remember how long it lasted, but yeah, it was it was it that was a huge thing.
SPEAKER_06It actually stopped happening after I quit Soma SD.
SPEAKER_03And was that before no? I think Lollapalooza has already started. Yeah, Lollapalooza was because we was 91. Yeah, I was gonna say because I remember going back to what year it was. But yeah, but just to just to see you know those bands, but it goes back to today, like there's just not that scene in it. Is it because of social media and people have other interests and more bands are coming back, like your bands coming back to play? Like, you know, you you see that, whereas opposed to like well, I don't I don't listen to music anymore. Like when I'm in my car, I mean, call me old or whatever you want, but like my wife actually got me addicted to NPR, so I listen to MPR and I like sports and I listen to sports talk. Well, that's what I'm saying. Like, you know, I listen to podcasts, I don't even know. I just started listening to podcasts, you know. You know, but I'm not in my car that long. You know, I go to work, I'm in my car for 15 minutes. But like when I'm traveling, like when I travel, I started listening to podcasts. But yeah, I mean it's just it's the social media thing. Like, there's just I mean, I couldn't name one band in San one punk band in San Diego unless it's a band that's I already knew and they're coming back and playing again.
SPEAKER_01I'm gonna keep saying cockroach until John doesn't laugh at it.
SPEAKER_00But you know what? Here's another crazy so yeah, I dig around in Instagram, I look around and I talk to people like ever since I started the whole thing again. There's like a house out in in Canta. I think they I forgot the name of their production company, but there's a house and they throw these like ska core events there. It's in a neighborhood, and I've seen these videos just like freaking hundreds of kids in this backyard, and they're mossing, and there's dirt everywhere, and it's just muck.
SPEAKER_06Well, did you did you uh ever hear of Fitzgerald's in?
SPEAKER_00Draw Bastard Production, I think. That's the name of it.
SPEAKER_06Oh well. But did you ever hear of Fitzgerald's in Houston, Texas? That was a house where they did shows in a neighborhood.
SPEAKER_00And it's now basically probably the same thing, but it's it's dirt. The kids are listening to music, but you gotta find these pockets. Right. They're there, it's just a matter of uniting them. Yeah, and the thing is like Soma united everything. We don't have like a epicenter somewhere where like a summary there's nothing like that because there is a Soma in the epicenter, but there is something, but it's just it's not there's there's no all ages shows. So they're doing they're doing shows in the freaking sewer, dude, in the drainage thing.
SPEAKER_02Well, they were doing that. There's some great shows down in the sewer. I mean, there's a there's a ditch down off of 94 that's like skatable as fucking hell. It's a DUI spot.
SPEAKER_00They do that and they do the sewer shows, and then you know they set up at Fiesta Island. They played.
SPEAKER_03There's a house around here that did shows back in the late 90s. I remember going to shows out here. Well, there was a they're there. I did it like somebody's front yard. I went to a show.
SPEAKER_06This is a call to arms. Break anchor played in 2012. That's Jay from the Suicide Machines other band. They played a backyard out here somewhere.
SPEAKER_02I've I've actually I remember going to like C15 in El Centro. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03And backyards, like seeing these decently sized punk bands, and you know, yeah, and down down south.
SPEAKER_02That's the thing is Chile Vista is always for me. I mean, and I'm gonna drop names like freaking cool guy here, Chicken Farm, Fishing Rod. Oh my god. Well, POD came from down there, but everyone knows that. But my personal favorite is just stand up above all Chicken Farm. I fucking love those guys. They oh my god, I lose my mind thinking about it. Those guys were so fucking they were rad. I was invited Ubaldo's parents. I went there once years ago. Oh, see, that's that's it. We're looking at a video right now with John. It's it's drunk bastard presents. But Chicken Farm, I went to Ubaldo's parents, and I they made me tacos. I mean, here's this Weidow coming in with the freaking mohawk, and they're like, Oh no, it's okay on bad acid. We're gonna make it it's it's okay. It's you've given, you know, our kid like he's playing music. This is I mean, it's some of the best bands. So at this point, it's almost like could this almost be a meeting of the minds and a call to arms? Yeah.
SPEAKER_00I mean, dude, it's there. It's a good thing. I mean, John, you're you're doing it.
SPEAKER_02And you're researching and you're finding it. So is this like you know, here at this table?
SPEAKER_00Let's talk to him. Let's call him out right now because PvP. So who is it again? Uh Drunk Bastard Presents. Please uh give John a call or Jeremy. Okay, so it's gonna be a while before we get this out. And send me a message. What was the name of your project again? Well, it's under Scott Punk Live, that's our Instagram. But definitely, yeah, there's shit's going on, but it's just not unified, you know.
SPEAKER_02Because it'll be a little bit before we get this out, but you know, let's let's you know, guys, gentlemen.
SPEAKER_06Well, we we still gotta we gotta throw down more on a G Spot. Oh yeah, let's get back to you remember how many shows you guys played at Metro? I have no idea. You guys play Metro.
SPEAKER_00You know the the funny thing is there's some shows like my base was like, yeah, we played with those guys. We played with I think it was like shit. I forgot, I forgot the band, but it was like a big band. I'm like I'm like no, we didn't. And then I like I then someone posts a fly, like, oh shit, we did. We did. Yeah, I don't know. I have no idea. It's a blur.
SPEAKER_06People were posting flyers of shows that I don't remember at all. Oh yeah, I get a lot of that. It's just like Tenacious D playing Soma. I don't remember Jack Blackbrother. I remember Tenacious D.
SPEAKER_03Oh. They opened for Tool. Wow. At Soma? I don't remember.
SPEAKER_00At Soma? Tenacious D.
SPEAKER_04At Metro. Huh. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00But see, you know what? You know, I did the uh the ska the San Diego ska in the 90s documentary. Because the freaking OC guys had their own little pick it up ska thing. It was all about basically OC bands. Yeah. I'm like, you know what? We had great bands down here too.
SPEAKER_06That documentary was all about real big fish.
SPEAKER_00Right, exactly. Yeah, exactly. It was just like it was so kind of like this.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it's like the it's gonna blow that never really talked about.
SPEAKER_06They did not mention so everybody that can hear the voice in the background, that's me.
SPEAKER_03That's my wife. Yeah, the bands on here, these weren't, I mean, maybe one played there. Rocket played there, right?
SPEAKER_06Rocket from the Crypt played Union.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, but I mean the names on here are Drive Like Jeehu. I don't remember them playing. You're right. They're all Casmod, like the Locust. I don't remember.
SPEAKER_06Locust would never play someone. Rob Crow. No. Don't know who definitely not heroin. Boilermaker, I think, might be.
SPEAKER_03Tim Cairn played for me once. Truman's Water, that's the one I have no clue who that is. I do, and yes, and I'm not sure about No Knife. Yes. I remember No Knife, but yeah.
SPEAKER_02I made specifically, I made specifically to try to get those bands to play, but it was a different scene.
SPEAKER_03They were all Casbah bands. Yeah, exactly. And this was, I mean, 96 is when I turned 21. Like I uh back to when we were talking about the Ken Club, Bodhisattva. I miss Bodies by like one year before he took over the Ken Club. He had Bodhis downtown, and I was 20, so I never actually made it to Bodies and it became Martini Ranch, and now it's double deuce or something. So I've never I've never actually been in that bar. But yeah, I mean like that's when boy has downtown changed. Yeah, yeah, well, yeah, it has. I used to live downtown. What what what's what's running soma down there now?
SPEAKER_02It's it was a child's museum, it's a pond complex, right? Well, across the streets. It's like condos, I believe, that whole thing. I I think they did the thing, but I went to I was because I I remember doing a street scene with bad religion and hanging out in a hotel looking over looking where the old soma was.
SPEAKER_06Yeah downtown.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, kids thing. It was a it was a child's museum. Child's museum, yeah.
SPEAKER_02But um there was uh I went to to Brett's place. I was living in Bay Park, so God knows what year this was, but it I went down to Brett's place and I had one of my rats. I had two Rex rats. They were it was Eve Libertine, and I believe I took no Steve and then Eve. Steve Ignorant and Eve Libertine from Crass. And I believe I took Steve because he was a male, because I can remember he had big old balls. A man. So he was not a cockroach. And um, so I it might have been Eve. I don't know. When it no these rats are fucking huge, you know, they're like the size of chihuahuas. And I I took it down there and I I go down to Brett's and I'm at Bodies, and I go in there, and I believe it must yeah, it was Damien from Daddy Long Legs, and I just go out to get a beer and I'm talking with him, and I got my frickin' Chihuahua with the frickin' 17-inch tail or whatever it was. Gigantic, just rode in on my shoulder and you know, hanging out and having a beer. And I don't think a band was playing or something, all right. Well, you know, I gotta go. But I just I didn't have anything to do. It's like, what am I I I'm a frickin' promoter, I gotta go and look for bands, I gotta look for talent, and my rats they want to go out. So I drove my station wagon down there that I got from Mike Nevison. God, I lived a bizarre life. But you know, that's that's what the life was, and you know, bread's just uh germ.
SPEAKER_01Cockroach. Cockroach. That's my life. Thanks, Jerry.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah. But there is hope. I'm saying I'm serious. There is hope for the San Diego scene yet. There's always hope. There's always hope. Because of the fact that I thought it was over because I didn't see any kids playing anywhere. I didn't think there was a scene. I thought they were all on yeah, like Instagram, doing playing video games.
SPEAKER_06They're on TikTok.
SPEAKER_00Oh, yeah, TikTok.
SPEAKER_06This this town everybody's a musician on uh on YouTube.
SPEAKER_02This town has never it's you know, I got more like requests on the the face crack and everything for you know home recordings and all these other groups, and I'm like Dude, we're we're over a thousand members on that. Yeah, and then our on our little thing, it's this this town I mean I can poo-poo all night long, but this town is full of talent. I mean, it's the talent just oozes out of this fucking place. We're like the bastard child of LA, and eventually everyone's gonna realize, you know, it's it's time. It doesn't matter what fucking age you are. I mean, I got I got asked to be you know a vocalist in a band again.
SPEAKER_06There's no more bastard child, so LA is its own thing. San Diego's its own thing.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. So let's just own it.
SPEAKER_06No, San Diego. It's its own thing. Seattle's kind of lame, to be honest with you.
SPEAKER_02That that whole yeah. It's all media made. And we're we're you know, we're gonna come back and it's what's coming out of there now. Out of Seattle, rain.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, for us.
SPEAKER_02That's all I'm hearing about. I'm more concerned about what's going on here, and there is a lot of talent here. I mean, I work with Magnol Company, and eventually they'll hear this too as well. And you know, they're working on with a lot of local artists, and they they're all starting small. You gotta start from somewhere. So I worked with them and I did a couple shows, and and Jerry, you know as well as I do, because we did the one show. We showed them how to do a proper show. We brought in the proper sound system. We showed them this, these are the things to look for. They did a show at Queen Bees. Unfortunately, I wasn't involved with that, and I had to work all October. But you know, it's it's there. We're here.
SPEAKER_06And now John John's doing shows.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, if if we just sit around and complain all the time, then nothing's gonna ever fucking happen. Proactive. So I'm your echo.
SPEAKER_06So we gotta bring up some more G-Spot stuff here.
SPEAKER_00So then Psycholuna.
SPEAKER_06That was a '97, right.
SPEAKER_02Get a real quick, let's get a real quick drop of just some G-Spot right now.
SPEAKER_06Well, I we did play.
SPEAKER_02We did one more. But uh I was gonna say, um, I was gonna ask you.
SPEAKER_06I was gonna ask John what his favorite show was at Metro. At Metro. We are we are talking about G Spot here.
SPEAKER_00God, you know what it was? I think because my fiance was from so I wrote a song called 3,000 Miles Away, and it was about her. She went to NYU while we were dating. So we what was the Green Day song? Something like that?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, 2000 Light Years Away. 3000 Light Years ago. I thought it was a car. I think it's 2,000 light years away.
SPEAKER_00So we actually ended up getting married, of course. But then yeah, she came into town and we played with I think we were playing with St. Ferris, and it just the it was totally packed, and it was just that was the time when that was the roadies out there.
SPEAKER_06That was probably '96, right? When everything was blown up. Yeah, and St. Ferris was on time, the cover of Time magazine or something.
SPEAKER_00I think it was before that, but but yeah, it was just insane. We had remember we had roadies, these guys with their jumpsuits and running around and throwing beach balls out and scoring people these crazy. With the Jeep spot on the back on their black board. Yeah, it was just it was just nuts. It was a hot night, and people were just getting sprayed and were throwing all kinds of and our our record label time uh immune, they gave us like condoms to throw out, which was like Immune. Oh, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, immune records. That would make sense with the uh name, right? Immune. No, no, no. Oh, G Spot. Oh, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00They bought they bought us the condoms, it was great, and we're just throwing them out. And it was just yeah, it was crazy, and the crowd was just coming back. They should have been throwing dildos out, but I don't think that would work for an all-ages venue. That'd be too expensive. You come home with them, and your parents are like, What is that? I got it at the G Spot show. Yeah, you know the grossest things, and we throw those out, like people would take them out of the package and they blow them up, and then I'm like, dude, there's like sperm inside a lubricant on there. You're like touching that. You're like ingesting. Well, at least our mouth's not gonna go pregnant. Exactly. Well, hopefully not. You just start you guys sterilized a bunch of bunch of dudes. Yeah, and it was funny because our our whole horn line are smokers, and yeah, that's when you can smoke indoors. It was just so smoking indoors. It was nuts. They're smoking, then they're blowing, they're playing while they're smoking. The smoke is coming out the horns. It was like, it was just yeah. That was probably one of the things.
SPEAKER_01It was awesome. No, it's great. It's just smoking and blowing. It just Oh, yeah. Well, if it had to blow. It was a G-spot show.
SPEAKER_00And uh boon. But but actually, one of the the biggest memory I had was when we played New Year's Eve '97. And and like my favorite, one of my favorite movies is Almost Famous. That you know the was that was that when the Descendants headline? No, Blink headline. Oh, it was Blink? I'm sorry. But have you seen that movie?
SPEAKER_02You're never gonna have them on the show. No, I I would love to have them. I would I would love to sit with Tom. I'm I miss that kid big time.
SPEAKER_00It it was a scene when they he's like go trying to go into the San Diego, you know, the first to write a piece on Black Sabbath, and it was just it was awesome because me and my girlfriend or fiance were it was just really cool because it's really we go down the thing, we rack on the door, just like in the movie, opens up and they let us in, and I see my drummer like running around with the he's just like starstruck because like Tim Armstrong's there and he's like, Oh my god, oh my god, Tim Armstrong's there. I'm like, Go, go get him. He's like running off, and it was just yeah, just I think that was probably the like stome experience was like the best because like wow. It was like it was like really cool. I mean, I think we got sick because the beer went bad in the back room. I almost threw up on stage. Was this the New Year's show you're talking about? New Year's show. What was your friend's name back there? You know Jeff Hawthorne?
SPEAKER_03I don't know. Because I I was at that show and my friend, I you know my friend Josh was like the same. I'll tell you that story when you're done. It was hilarious. Jeff was in Buckle9. Yeah, drummer. Okay.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, but yeah, it's I'm not good with last name.
SPEAKER_03The only one I know by last name was Pep Pebsworth.
SPEAKER_02I don't even think I was at that one.
SPEAKER_00I think that was I think you're gone already. That's it was ninety-seven to ninety-eight.
SPEAKER_02Okay, yeah. That was already gone.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02But uh so again, I'm sorry. It's okay.
SPEAKER_03Did Rancid play, or were they just there? He was just there. Okay, because I remember Butler Lyme was playing and they played in Sound System, and Tim was there, and I remember John, they just kind of kept looking at him like Yeah, because they they actually I heard the story and they actually asked him if he wanted to join them, but he's like, No, I'd just rather watch you guys. Yeah, it was pretty awesome. Yeah, my my friend Josh, we were at that show and he met Tim and he asked him for his autograph. And Tim, I'll never forget it, said, I'm punk rock, I don't sign autographs. But he gave him his phone number, and Josh called Tim every day. And then one day, like two weeks later, he's like, He changed his number. I don't know why. I mean, I uh stalker. Yeah, it was it was hilarious. This Josh Josh Josh takes credit for he's the one that got swindle like you know hugely promoted back then.
SPEAKER_06Oh yeah, I remember.
SPEAKER_03Do you remember Josh? Yeah, he's the first one to get swinging udders in San Diego. It was funny because he never did that for cockroach.
SPEAKER_06What thing uh because he we he did the he did the music trader in El Cajon. Yeah, yeah. And uh I remember going there one time, he's he got me the job. He's all you gotta check out this band, the Suicide Machines. Oh, really? Why do I need to check this man out?
SPEAKER_01You know, because he's already seen cockroach.
SPEAKER_06So I that he uh that always stands out on my mind because I became really good friends with Jason Navarro, the singer of the Suicide Machines, and I go out with those guys as well every once in a while. So um so yeah, that he always stands out in my mind about yeah, check this band out.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, he he brought he brought swinging udders here. Um their first show was at Soul Kitchen, and he helped get AFI out here and swinging udders, and we partied with them that night, and then I became friends, well, not friends, but close acquaintances with them. Whenever they come, they get me into shows and then dropkick Murphy's same thing because they all played together and then you know rancid. I was in a when Lars Lars Frederickson and the bastards, they all played down here. So it was cool. That's that was towards the end of my like going to shows in 2001. I went up to LA and filmed a video with Dropkick Murphy's, which was really cool. So that was my that's my claim to fame. I'm gonna drop Kick Murphy's video. That's no, that's all that's as talented as I got, and it wasn't even me, you know. So Josh Rule.
SPEAKER_06Again, you you got your own comp, man.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, but I remember, I remember, I remember Lars, and I remember when he joined Rancid, I was like, I hate this guy because Tim's not singing anymore as much, and and Matt's not singing as because I love Matt. Matt had that too. Remember when I tried my band, I had that like heavy Matt voice. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. And yeah, I just remember, remember that, and then I met Lars. I'm like, man, he's actually a cool guy. Like, he's actually pretty nice.
SPEAKER_06Oh, he's he's really nice. Yeah, yeah, but it booms, yeah. I mean, the guy like he's actually my friend's uh sponsor for uh Alcohol Anonymous. Oh, really?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, he has a new band now, he has a solo project going on. I saw I saw uh part of a video I didn't haven't watched it yet, but yeah, when they were just in town, like I really wanted to go see them. Like, I'm like, I I that was one of my favorite bands. Like I saw them a couple times. One of my favorite shows was probably them and Sick of It All at SoMont.
SPEAKER_02Oh, yeah. That was an amazing show.
SPEAKER_03It was the only time I ever saw Sick of It All. And I want to say Quicksand. Yeah. Played with them, I maybe I can't remember. I wanted to go see Rancid and you know, work. Like I have to be up at you know, like five in the morning or so.
SPEAKER_02That reminds me, did I ever have you come in and work a show just to get extra tickets?
SPEAKER_06Because I remember I tried to spread the well just like you wanted you wanted a couple other people to bring into a show or something.
SPEAKER_03Why don't you come in and work? Oh, I don't I don't remember. I don't remember actually working at all or doing that. So you don't remember ever working for cockroach?
SPEAKER_06No slave labor.
SPEAKER_03Oh no, yeah, yeah. I did work for cockroach. I was the sound tech. That's why we sounded so bad. Probably you're right, because I cannot play anything to save my life. So yeah, you're probably right. That's why you guys sucked.
SPEAKER_02No, I I I remember, I mean, there's so many people that have.
SPEAKER_03That was the only time I saw you with Mohawk. That's like the only time you ever did your your hair up, from what I remember, was when you played with cockroach.
SPEAKER_06And he wore that fishnet shirt. Exactly.
SPEAKER_03Fishnet shirt and the see I remember the plaid pants, and I want to say suspenders. Bondage pants. I want to say suspenders, possibly. But not up, but down. Yeah, yeah, dude. Yeah, yeah. And then probably 20 years ago, and I still remember this shit.
SPEAKER_0225 years ago. Out of all the shows. Thank God I wasn't wearing my leather pants.
SPEAKER_01What? John, I still have them. I aired him out.
SPEAKER_00Showed me his boots. I showed him my boots. I had a video of him when we used to harass him at the door in the back street. Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_07It's on the page.
SPEAKER_00Used to harass him all the time. It was hilarious. Come over here, meat boy.
SPEAKER_03You could always tell when he was having a bad night, though. Like we walk up and he was just like, hey. And I'm like, what's up, dude?
SPEAKER_00Wheelie wheely.
SPEAKER_03It's been a tough night.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, you've been a tough night.
SPEAKER_02John's gonna do my voices from now on. Don, how do I feel right now?
unknownNot too good.
SPEAKER_06So usually uh usually if uh Jerem was silent, he knew he knew he was having a bad night. Yeah. But I remember you always smiling, though.
SPEAKER_03You were like the smiley one.
SPEAKER_06Because I was the greeter. You're like at Walmart.
SPEAKER_00You're the greeter.
SPEAKER_03I should have had a Walmart shirt on with a little bit in the front and Jeremy was in the back.
SPEAKER_07Welcome to Walmart.
SPEAKER_06Hey Jerome, I got it in the front, you got it in the back. I totally got it.
SPEAKER_00In the back.
SPEAKER_07Cheese box.
SPEAKER_03One of uh one of one of Brett's bars that I worked at. We had we had the bar in the front and we had a poker room in the back, and we wanted to make shirts that said Exactly. We had a poker room. It's on uh 55th and Oklahoma Boulevard, but we wanted to make shirts that said liquor in the front, poker in the rear. Unfortunately, they never came out.
SPEAKER_02I I remember I went there, I was pseudo-managing uh multiple stab wounds or whatever Mario's band was at that point. Oh jeez, I forgot about that guy. And and and you know, because Mario did security and and we'd and scalp tickets.
SPEAKER_07Yeah.
SPEAKER_02But yeah, I I remember going there and doing some show trying to figure out that that place was interesting. It was actually California. I don't remember what it was it was literally the the poker in the front and then you can linger in the back.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, because I believe he played there. I think I remember him playing there once. Yeah, yeah. That was an interesting place.
SPEAKER_02One of the yeah, that was I drive by it all the time because I have a few accounts where I mow lawns up in that neighborhood.
SPEAKER_03It's gone, it's officially gone because he there was a big scandal there, like they were. Wasn't big poker place? Yeah, it was a poker place, and he had this whole deal like he could keep it open for a certain amount of years, or he could sell it. Oh no, it was he could sell it to somebody and they could keep it open for like ten years, or he could keep, and once he died, that was it, it was gone. But then they had some like you could look it up, there was some like gambling ring that was going on there a couple years ago, and a bunch of them got arrested and thrown in jail and shit. Yeah. But yeah, that was a fun place to work. They still owe me five bucks.
SPEAKER_07Five bucks.
SPEAKER_02I parked there, I didn't get validated.
unknownOh Lord.
SPEAKER_03And like, thank you for the time change because I'm about ready to fall asleep.
SPEAKER_06So, so how uh John, so how did uh you guys get your name? What porn movie were you guys watching?
SPEAKER_00I don't know, man. You know, we never thought we'd make it past the summer, so we're like screw it, man. We're just gonna call ourselves G Spot. It's snappy. G Spot. It's easy. No one else is named G Spot ever anywhere. So we'll just call it G-Spot and we'll we'll put our we'll make a cassette. We'll make a cassette and we'll put it into off the record and we'll say, yeah! We've made it, bro. We have a cassette tape and off the record. Now we can break up. But then it didn't happen that way. We just kept on getting shows after show after show. I'm like, damn it. And then we got stuck with the name.
SPEAKER_03Did you have other names before you chose that one? I mean, every band has other names.
SPEAKER_00I think we were called the yeasties. So it was like a big vagina kind of thing. But the yeastie girls were around to crazy.
SPEAKER_06You guys could have called yourself Scagina.
SPEAKER_00There you go. Put Scott in our name. Never. No in our name. But yeah, I don't know. It was just it was we were in college and we're just kids and we didn't know what the fuck we were doing. We're just, yeah, we'll just who cares? No one cares. We'll get on. This won't come back to me. It's hard when I have to tell my kids I was in a band called G Spot.
SPEAKER_06You could have caught yourself the big O.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I could have. We were gonna say we're God Spot. But then that wouldn't probably work. So Dad, you're not religious. Exactly. Oh man's kids good the G stood for good. The crazy thing, I think we missed out on a lot of shows because we were named G Spot.
SPEAKER_03Wow. I could see that now, but not back then. I mean it was, you know. Even back then, they knew what it was. Yeah. Well, I know. I'm just saying I was just, yeah. But there were so many interesting names. Like, do you ever notice like all the bands you like had cool names, but all the bands you like didn't like had shitty names? Give me a shitty name.
SPEAKER_00Don't say cockroach. Cock meat.
SPEAKER_01Or meat. I know. Meat.
SPEAKER_03Meat's a personality. But like just some of the names that like these bands came up with. Uh you know, like Papa Boner.
SPEAKER_01Well, just I mean, well, I would just have a band called Papa Boner.
SPEAKER_06Well, I worked for Papa Roach, so you know.
SPEAKER_03They're still around. Well, there you go. Okay, that wasn't a band I really cared for.
SPEAKER_02I may have done again I never really an art of trying to come up with obnoxious names. I mean, that's meat. Yeah. I was waiting for you to call yourself milk. I I I I should have. But then the Harvey milk would have like sued us and could have been popular.
SPEAKER_06But then you had urine, right?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, urine. It started with this urinary. And then I'm like, no, let's just simplify it. Let's just call it urine. So our demo tapes were urine samples, of course, obviously. I mean, come on. I'm not my lord. I've come up with some really dumb band names.
SPEAKER_06I was talking to this girl the other night about the the little fish in the in the Amazon that swims up the urethia. Oh, yeah. I'm like, I'm like, you mean the dick minnow?
SPEAKER_02That's a great name.
SPEAKER_06She's like, that's a good band name. Then I'm like, well, what would it be for the vagina? And I'm like, pussy perch. So you just come up with names off, you know, just stupid stuff.
SPEAKER_02And don't give me any more ideas.
SPEAKER_06I like those I like those one-word names. You know, that that that was pretty pretty good. Because they always they just they just held, you know, they held on their own. You didn't have to have where you had to have an acronym because your name was so long. Oh yeah, yeah. STP.
SPEAKER_02Well, yeah, that's what poor was. S O I A. Poor and my band LOT. Was there a band called STD? No, I didn't probably I didn't start another band yet by that point. But you know, LOT was lack of intolerance. Poor was people outraged under restrictions. Meat was because the vegan movement was huge, and we're like, fuck you, we're gonna call ourselves meat. Oh, you were and you were anti-PETA. And cockroaches because I hate cockroaches. And God, there was a lot of them in downtown Soma at the Union Street. Oh my god. Those things, they're this big and they're carrying homeless people. And they're just like walking with homeless people on their backs.
SPEAKER_00Hey, that was an Uber back in pack mules. They had all their stuff on these cockroaches, and they're just I'm definitely afraid of cockroaches.
SPEAKER_02You want to hear me scream like a little girl? Or like a little man, or a big man. Oh, dude, don't even give me a start. If I look down right now, there's a fucking cockroach in my house.
SPEAKER_03Don't look down.
SPEAKER_02I will tear every skateboard off of the walls and beat it. And I will yeah. I will use fire. This thing scare me. It's a Texas cockroach. It's a frickin' Texas cockroach. It's got guns and a frickin' hat, and it goes, They bite. I'm gonna kick your ass, motherfucker. God, I hate those things. So that's why I named the band Cockroach. But back then it was it was like an art thing, you know. I mean, I I the more and more I get older I look I look at and go, I was really influenced by Iggy Pop. I mean the stooges weren't, you know, musical geniuses, but I want to be your dog. I mean, come on, that that's that song just if you don't want to get up and dance and and rub peanut butter on yourself, then you're just you're just not American. You're just not American. No, seriously, he's a heavy influence. I never went to Sid Vicious's side. I was like, just it's theater, it's all that's kind of a really weird question right now.
SPEAKER_06So I got a I got a question for our guests.
SPEAKER_03Well, I mean, Sid Vicious wasn't the best uh bass player musician of anything. He was really good at drugs.
SPEAKER_06Well, I was gonna ask our guests here, so either either Union or Metro, what was your guys' favorite show?
SPEAKER_00Well, go ahead, P.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, well, Union, I I I don't really rem like I said I don't really remember shows that much, but like I said, probably ones coming just off the top of my head was probably Rancid Sig of Ital. I'm thinking. Yeah, that was probably my favorite. Because I had never seen Sig of Italy, I didn't really know much about them. But you know, I knew Rancid and I was blown away by them. They they they blew me away. It was definitely a great show. I'd have to look at the flyers when I get here go to my backyard and look at all the flyers. But yeah, that's that's probably one of my favorites. Because I never I don't remember seeing like well, Pat Religion played there, right? Two nights. Who did they yeah, who did they play with?
SPEAKER_06They played with Unwritten Law. I believe I think the neighbors were on that, maybe. I don't have to look it up.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, so I mean I I know I probably saw them there.
SPEAKER_06That's when they brought the barricade in, which we didn't need. Right, right. So that was all Craig's doings.
SPEAKER_03Craig. Craig from Bad Religion.
SPEAKER_06Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Oh yeah, Circle Jerks.
SPEAKER_06We're a violent band.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, we need extra barricades.
SPEAKER_03Circle jerks was a hell of a show. I mean, that was a milestone. I think. We need to do that show.
SPEAKER_06He just played punk rock bullying. They killed it.
SPEAKER_03No, it was cool. It was no, it was cool to see them because I remember I remember I kind of think of his name from Bad Religion that was in Zerburg. Greg Hesson. Yeah, Greg Hudson seeing him play with them. Man, I'm just remembering all these shows. I don't remember who played with them, but no effects. I remember that was an awesome show.
SPEAKER_06They played many times.
SPEAKER_03I want to say I was standing, uh it's all coming back to me. Like there was like benches against the wall. Does that ring a bell? Benches?
SPEAKER_06A metro?
SPEAKER_03Yeah. I don't know.
SPEAKER_06Do we have benches there? I don't remember. They were like against the wall. Against the wall.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, and I remember standing on them because I was like I had like a broken leg or something. I don't remember. I just remember I had a broken leg and I couldn't go up.
SPEAKER_06When you walked down from the uh bathrooms. Yeah. There was benches there. So I remember and then I think we had something to sit on. Well, over by the side stage, there was a bench far back over by the box office.
SPEAKER_03Did they play it? Yeah, I I just remember standing on it because I remember I had a broken leg and I couldn't like walk around and stuff, and I couldn't go to the front. And I don't remember, I don't remember if I had known you yet or what it was, or if I worked at Music Trader yet or any of that, but I remember seeing them there. I just don't remember who they played with because I definitely don't have that flyer anymore. So yeah, I mean there was I mean I loved, I mean, that was my place. Like I said, I was there it was the hangout you know, three, four, five, six times a week sometimes.
SPEAKER_06And um I yeah, I went there just you know many times before I started working there.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. It was a good time. I mean, you know, you you know, you went there with your friends and like drank a couple forties in the parking lot and went in there and got in the pit. I'm not gonna lie, I remember eating at Rice King. Like almost no, seriously, man. Rice King was right there and it was like right across the street. Exactly. And I ate there a lot. I don't remember going to Carls Jr. I don't remember if that was there at the time. No, it was there. Yeah, but I remember Rice King, like we just Domino's was there. Yeah, but Rice King was there, and then there was dominated everything.
SPEAKER_06There was the Mexican uh restaurant there that was there over next to no no, there was one next to Rice King, yeah.
SPEAKER_03Whatever Alberto's or whatever name it was in. Because we would drive there, we would we would eat, and then we'd go stand in line for whatever show we were seeing. And yeah, I wish I could remember more of this.
SPEAKER_06I think it's Nico's yeah, it was uh no Nico's was down the street, it was a different name.
SPEAKER_02I think they had it, I think they had a Nico's there.
SPEAKER_06They did, but it was uh was something else. But we would go to JV's. Yeah, Nico's was across from JV's from our.
SPEAKER_03I just remember rice king, that's all.
SPEAKER_06But many times, many times we'd eat rice king before we I probably bought you rice king every once in a while.
SPEAKER_03I mean, or somebody, yeah.
SPEAKER_06Nothing like the garlic shrimp or whatever they used to have there. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03And then I would hang out with whoever was working at the time. Like I remember I don't remember everybody's names. I remember there was Mike, the guy who was built like a tank break shit house, Mike Nevis. I want to say uh there was a Dave. Yep, Dave used to be at the guy, like ball cap always wore the ball cap. Exactly. Big Dave. So I got that's a whole different story. Somebody thought I looked like him, like we were brothers or something. I'm like, this guy is like 150 pounds more than me, and he's like muscle, and I'm like this fat kid. Yeah, and there was uh there was Misa or Lawrence.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Lawrence. Or Simolins.
SPEAKER_03Oh, okay, yeah. I remember Mario, of course.
SPEAKER_07Yeah.
SPEAKER_03There's probably a few others. I don't remember Mikey Beats, though.
SPEAKER_06He was he was he was a 16-year-old kid that just did cleanup and stuff. He would he would be he'd be more watching the show. Okay.
SPEAKER_03And then he he'd come in and then clean up time, he would he would report to me and Okay, well, yeah, maybe if I saw him, maybe because when I first heard Mikey, I was thinking of Mike from Big Dude. No, unfortunately.
SPEAKER_06And then Mikey I think he was only there really from ninety-five to maybe ninety-six, and I think he left.
SPEAKER_02A year and a half or so. It was a short stint, but it was enough to leave an impression. But his energy was different, and he did help bring in people. But I I had so many people, like one of my guitarists, Brian, did cleanup. There were so many people that did clean up for me. I probably swept there once or twice.
SPEAKER_06Yeah. Had a couple marines that actually came and did that too for a while.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, see, I I I I could look people in the face and say, Oh, I worked for you, and I would go, God group. Because I don't, you know, unfortunately, I just don't remember everyone. Yeah.
SPEAKER_06Well, there's well, there's a lot of people. I mean, I can't remember everybody's name.
SPEAKER_03I can't even remember all the bands. Yeah. I remember that cool hallway that was always like awesome. Yeah, I okay, John.
SPEAKER_06Oh. So what was your favorite show?
SPEAKER_00I have like uh two shows, one show for each venue. Skanky pickle at E. I don't know who else they play with, but that was just they stood out. Yeah, there's awesome. And then at Metro, we were playing that same show, but it was the first time I saw Suicide Machines. They're on the main stage. And where they were opening for somebody, right? Yeah, they had the little the red tape, the cassette tape, and I was like, listen to that like constantly. Destruction by definition. And it was crazy because you know, back then like the whole Scot thing was like horn, horn, horns, you know, you have to have horns or you're not a Scott man. So they had no horns. And people were like spitting on them and throwing shit at them. And it was fucking, I was like, man, they were so fucking good. What are you guys doing? And it was just funny because they're just you know, they just kept on playing no matter how much spit got on. They're like threatening them with the you know, their mic stands the mic stands and stuff. It was just it was crazy, and then after that, they you know, they just boom, things like blew up.
SPEAKER_06But I think it was And they were doing a comeback now.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it was because they did they play side stage?
SPEAKER_06They played both. Both main and side. They but they did open for quite a few bands.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I I forgot what bill it was, but yeah, they're just it was It was pretty awesome watching them because it was just like so different. I think um everything else.
SPEAKER_06I think from what the guys were telling me, they both uh both Buck09 and Suicide Machines did a US tour together. So like that was one of their both of their first US tour.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. But yeah, there that was that was a really eye-opener. It was really cool.
SPEAKER_02So you bringing that up made me remember I remember John Roy from Unsteady bringing in like a Wurlitzer through the back. I think it was a Wurlitzer to do a side stage show, and I believe it's probably one of those took up half the side stage. You know, the the two weeks of everyday shows during Christmas time. But I just remember like John bringing in, you know, this equipment and you know, he's fully decked out in his suit and everything. And every show was important if it was in front of fifteen thousand people or two people. He just and those are the things that I remember. That and also when I got a phone call from from Wadi from the exploited, and I was trying it was like this jumbled message, and I'm like, oh, what the fuck? And I was it was because back then it's pager times, so I just barely had a phone, and I'm like trying to hear the voice. But I remember John Roy just taking every single show that Unsteady did was like so professional, he had to have everything in you know the those are the things that I remember the most. And then I also remember Courtney Love not knowing where the stage was because the the arrows going from the skin for you, you know, ten feet with those arrows on the ground of gaff tape wasn't enough for her to know where the fucking issue was.
SPEAKER_06But the stage thing is, you know, she was on, she came on an hour late, and Drew Barrymore is backstage partying with her. Oh wow. Yeah, well, so a lot of people.
SPEAKER_02Both of them were a pain in my fucking ass. So I remember John Roy more than I remember frickin' them doing smack back there, whatever the fuck they were doing.
SPEAKER_00Cordy was generally fucked up. He's still that way. He is still exactly the same way. So but he rules.
SPEAKER_02I mean, that's I mean, he just every show, it didn't matter how many people he just and I remember he would, you know, John, you know the show must go on, Germ. Oh yeah, he's you know, and it just you look at him, you just go, Well, goddamn, I I'll tell you what, the show must go on. And I don't speak that way, but you have to because John said it. That's that shit to me is like that's gold. I I put that on my epitaph. Because it was so always went on. It it I know one way or another. No, or an Iron Maiden. You know, that bummed me out. The Iron Maiden show bummed me out because I wanted to see Iron Maiden, but I wanted to see him with Bruce.
SPEAKER_06Yeah.
SPEAKER_02You know, because I got so much shit for 666 and Number of the Beasts.
SPEAKER_06Fear Factories uh was misspelled on that flyer. My god. Yeah. Yeah, Dino wasn't too happy about that.
SPEAKER_02Speaking of, we'll have a Dino in eventually, but yeah, you know, that that show did bum me up.
SPEAKER_06But John, I mean totally my two most two memorable shows, one from Union, one from Metro, would have to be Fagazia at Union.
SPEAKER_03Oh, yeah, so I remember that show. Yep. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_06And that was when he kept stopping the show because the skinheads were getting into fights or whatever.
SPEAKER_03They played with Red Machine or something machine. I can't remember what it was. Maybe that was the name of their album. Sorry, go ahead.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I'm trying to kind of can't remember. That that show was incredible. We had a lot of well, there's a lot of politics going on before.
SPEAKER_03No, no, wasn't if you say it, I'll I'll know. Oh, what was it Red Blonde or Red Blonde? Red Redheaded Blonde? Redhead blonde, redheaded blonde, I think.
SPEAKER_06And there was one other band. Yeah. Yeah, there were three bands on that one.
SPEAKER_02That sounds familiar.
SPEAKER_06And then I'd have to say the show that was most memorable to me at Metro was probably Marilyn Manson. Just because of the just because of the way the stage was all set up with the big Ouija board and the as the backdrop, and they had those ventriloquist dolls hanging from the city. Yeah, it was almost like rubber chickens.
SPEAKER_03I'm sorry, I have that backwards. I saw Fagazzi at Metro, not at Union. Okay. So then that's a different show, yeah.
SPEAKER_06Well, Fluff, I know Fluff played on one of the uh Fagazzi shows. And Camera Obscura. Yeah. So yeah, no, Fagazzi always put on we always I always give props to Fagazzi. So they just they always played a great set.
SPEAKER_02I take it back, other than John and Metro was Daisy Chainsaw. Again, I think I brought this up, but Daisy Chainsaw.
SPEAKER_06That was your favorite all-time favorite show.
SPEAKER_02All-time favorite show ever. Katie James fucking ruled. And the band, they were they were they it was like Motorhead playing behind them. They were so loud and just Oh my god, they were good. Oh my god. Yeah, but yeah. John Rowan, Daisy Chainsaw, there we go.
SPEAKER_06Well then and then the uh just uh the you remember when Korn played? I think the last time Korn played at Metro, they had all those dolls. Oh yeah. All over doll heads and dolls.
SPEAKER_02Which kind of again reminds me of my house. It was kind of trippy. Yeah. It's kind of comforting. Anyone that knows my house knows. But we should we wrap this up? Yeah, I think it's you know I think we did like almost two hours.
SPEAKER_06Oh really? Far over two hours, yeah.
SPEAKER_02We got hiccups in the background, we got you know, we're dying over here. It's it's it's been a you know, seriously, John. You're the best. I mean, I've I've cockroach cockroach. Cockroach. It's like we were looking at each other where we set it up. Seriously, thank you. And we you know, you already know we're gonna continue this.
SPEAKER_03Cockroach is shit. Meat. We're gonna bring back 20 bands from 1995 to play.
SPEAKER_01I need in Jeremy's backyard. 1995 Fest.
SPEAKER_02They're gonna charge five bucks. Cockroach. I would I would love to do something here where we bring, you know, a few people and hang out.
SPEAKER_03And you have to say the band's name at the one thing I hate. Okay, sorry. That's the one thing I hated about Soma was the say was the smaller shows that say the name of the band at the door. Well, that's how they got paid. No, I know, but wasn't it like from what I remember hearing, I don't know if this was a rumor, but if it was a five dollar show and I said G Spot, G Spot got one dollar and the house kept four. That's correct. Okay, so yeah, because I know you guys had to make money, obviously. I'm just trying to remember how it was.
SPEAKER_0025 cents to cockroach.
SPEAKER_06Because yeah, if you well, if you think about it, that it was a five dollar show. I mean, yeah, somebody had to pay the bills and pay everybody that was there. So say 100 people showed up, that wasn't a lot of money.
SPEAKER_03No, no, no, and I mean, yeah, it was a big building, you know. But I was I was just remembering that. I'm like, oh yeah, but it sucked if you saw there was like two or three bands that you wanted to see.
SPEAKER_06But think about it, uh, we didn't do pay to play, and you know LA was doing pay to play, you had to sell a hundred tickets, so in order to yeah, and you're also and it was an all-ages club.
SPEAKER_03Like when I worked at the Ken Club, it was no alcohol money.
SPEAKER_06Exactly.
SPEAKER_03No, that's what I was gonna say right now. The Ken Club was always if you want to get money, you charge at the door and you get to keep everything. If you don't want to get paid, it's a free show and that's it. If you want to get money, you play at SeaWorld. You played at SeaWorld or G Spot played at SeaWorld, or I was gonna arrival on my whole weekend there.
SPEAKER_00So, how did you pull off the name? No, it was beta seven. Well, it's uh just recently. Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_06Or or the other thing is you played those college shows where they have grant money.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, cockroach money. Cockroach money.
SPEAKER_01Cockroach makes way more money. Colin. My God.
SPEAKER_06Hey Tripp, you gotta back up, man. You gotta back up the mic.
SPEAKER_01I kept talking to death. The more I say cockroach, the more I vomit.
SPEAKER_03SeaWorld Money. See, that's so back when you were playing. I mean, you know, were you guys was it all for fun or were you it was it was all for fun. Because when you have seven people in a band, like it's hard to split cockroach money, man. That's what I'm saying. Yeah, when you're a cockroach and you have like three people or whatever. But yeah, I mean, I always wonder like those bigger bands, like I buckled nine, there were seven of them.
SPEAKER_06They split all the money equally, so yeah.
SPEAKER_03No, but I'm saying, like, it wasn't, you know, I mean, it even if you got big, it was hard to like, you know, I mean, make money. It's mainly the merch that we made money off of, you know. It's true. It wasn't really the and your CDs you don't get much off of. You get a few.
SPEAKER_00Well, the CDs were good because we were making like maybe eight or nine dollars off a CD. So it was you can't do that now. Um, and then you were DIYing probably your shirts and stuff and stickers and shoot.
SPEAKER_06Even touring, man. When I was with Papa Roach and we were touring on the before Infest came out, yeah, they were making a hundred dollars a show, if that. Oh wow. So yeah, you relied on your merch money. Sure. And then, you know, whatever there was a guarantee that was more than a hundred dollars. Yeah. I mean, gas and everything else.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I know. Yeah, it's crazy. That's why you you had to you had to make it eventually. So what do you do for Buck09 then currently?
SPEAKER_06I do a little bit of everything with those guys, you know, doing merch, driving.
SPEAKER_03Awesome.
SPEAKER_06Stage loading, you know, load in, load out, that kind of thing. Kind of watch over them. Like I'm the only pretty much I'll be the only sober guy. Just make sure everybody gets to where they need to go safely. Now, are they they're not all original still, right? There's like everybody's original other than the bass player.
SPEAKER_03Okay.
SPEAKER_06So Andy, Andy, actually Andy's been in Buck09 longer than than Scott was.
SPEAKER_03Remember Jonas and Tony and uh Dan and John and you said Steve and Steve came by now missing a name or two.
SPEAKER_06Because like like what John was saying, uh Jeff, Jeff, Steve quit the band for a while, and then Jeff, Jeff went in and played drums with them for a long time.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Because Dan Dan is he's dating Bonnie, right? Yeah. Yeah, because I've known Bonnie for yeah.
SPEAKER_06And Dan was in voodoo glow skulls as well.
SPEAKER_03I don't remember that. Yeah, I do remember seeing them play with them with them. Did he play a long time with them or just a short period? I think a couple years. Okay.
SPEAKER_00This off subject, but what happened to the Voodoo Glow Skulls uh singer?
SPEAKER_06He I guess there was some kind of issues with the band and he quit. And that's when that's actually when Dan quit the band.
SPEAKER_00When was this though?
SPEAKER_06What that was I'm thinking 20.
SPEAKER_02I'm not gonna say cockroach right now.
SPEAKER_01What? You look at me that way.
SPEAKER_06I think it was like 2018 or something. I don't know. Oh, really? I was I don't it wasn't that long ago.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I I yeah, some of these bands I don't even know they're still around, you know, they're still putting up albums and stuff. Messed everything up there. It's okay, I'll bring up cockroach again later.
SPEAKER_06We're not paying the we're not paying a studio fee, so we're not they're not set on time. Not cockroach money.
SPEAKER_02Same same money that Papa Roach made, like a hundred bucks. But the funny thing about you know, the saying the dollar at the door, you know, there was times where fans would come in and be like, oh no, we'd rather just say, you know, whatever band. So I would take money out of my pocket. I'm not gonna have a band play for free. So there was times where I was literally paying, you know, cleanup crew and everyone. So I would leave with no money.
unknownOut of your pocket.
SPEAKER_07Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Because Cockroach was rich. I mean, because well, you guys were selling what? Like water and soda, I think that's all that I remember. I don't know. Len made all that fucking money. No, but I'm saying you weren't selling much.
SPEAKER_06Well, I think at Metro we just sold water and soda sometimes. And then when the C opened up, we had uh candy, but don't say we did have uh at one time at Metro we had a like a cigarette girl that walked around with candy. Oh yeah, yeah. Mandy's candy. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
unknownSorry.
SPEAKER_02We could do a whole episode of just cockroach. But no, there was there was hidden track. Mandy's Candies at Union Street, they would come in, it was it was great because they would you know dress up in old-timey sort of twenties, thirties outfits, and they would have a tray of of cigarettes and and candy wrapped on them. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_07I mean always let me touch their boots. Oh my lord, how much did that cost?
SPEAKER_01A cockroach dollar. But no, it's I know cockroaches. TMI.
SPEAKER_03TMI buy two, get one free.
SPEAKER_01TMI.
SPEAKER_03I used to hang out with the guy in cockroach.
SPEAKER_01They totally need to edit Jerry. Thank you. Thank you. V. Thanks for having me. Thank you, Jerry.
SPEAKER_06You're listening to the Union and Metro podcast. Thanks. Thanks to Break Acre for providing the music. Cheers. Thanks, guys.
