Got to get over the hump, shoot them with the pop Guns
Years ago when I was a music critic I had some pretty awful interviews.
The worst was after putting in a request to talk to a band from Detroit (I’m going to be nice and not name names). They didn’t call when scheduled. Not surprising. They never call when they’re supposed to. Then, three days later I get a call from the front man — right in the middle of deadline. He sounded annoyed when I mentioned that it was not the most convenient time to speak to him and I was unwilling to reschedule so I said, fine, let’s do it now. It quickly grew apparent he was bombed. And irascible. He started mocking my questions. Then he basically hung up on me. I called the publicist at his record label, who said, “Oh no. Not again.” He’d done the same thing to other reporters.
Yeah, it was often like that.
But recently I had the pleasure of talking to Shiny Toy Guns keyboardist Jeremy Dawson. He was articulate, clever, thoughtful and funny. And this interview came after an equally pleasant time talking to Dinosaur Jr. drummer Murph. Makes me wonder if I should go back to writing about music. Then I’m reminded why I was glad to quit that gig: It made me hate music. See, there’s nothing worse than being forced to listen to terrible music and then being called upon to judge it. I still recall the first time I heard Korn’s demo tape of their first album — I nearly threw it out the car window after one song. I knew then Kurt Cobain had not only killed himself, but took rock ‘n’ roll with him. It was murder-suicide.
Anyway, one of the more amusing parts of the interview with Dawson was when we talked about hanging out at the Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa while visiting a friend in the area.
“I walked in there the other day, I look up and Frank Black is on stage,” he said. “I thought, ‘I came in here for a beer and Frank Black is playing.’ ”
That’s exactly the charm of Detroit. It’s where you can catch important artists here without the long drive to L.A.
Dawson also talked about the band’s influences. “It’s a combination of really old stuff. When I say old, they’re not really old. They’re more like a psychedelic trippy rock from the ’70s mixed with Shoegazer music,” Dawson said. “And a lot of Pink Floyd, Moody Blues, Steppenwolf, REM. Whatever we could get our hands on in Oklahoma.”
Dawson grew up in OK with STG co-founder Chad Petree and still splits his time between city of Angels and the Sooner State. I’m reminded of when I interviewed Steven Drozd from the Flaming Lips. He told me how singer Wayne Coyne used to book all those classic ’80s hardcore bands like Black Flag because it was the only way to get them to play in Oklahoma. I always thought it was cool that they knew of underground bands like that. And I’m equally impressed those shoegazer bands influenced Dawson in Oklahoma. When I mentioned Swervedriver, an old favorite, he said, “Whoa, I haven’t heard that name in a long while.” Other influences include My Bloody Valentine, Curve, Ride, Lush, early Blur, James and the Charlaton UKs, Dawson said.
Most importantly, though, the band’s concert Saturday is a fundraiser for a worthy cause, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. There’s all sorts of other fun involved, including auctions. In case you want to contribute here’s some handy information (courtesy of foundation committee member Kim Daskas):
Individual tickets are $350
Tables of 10 $5,000
A variety of sponsorships are available as well.
Toyota Prius Opportunity Drawing tickets are $100 (a total of 600 are available)
(714) 938-1393 or 800-CF-CURE1
Some of the Live Auction Items:
Dancing with the Stars VIP Package
Green Day Signed Guitar
Surfboard signed by surfing legends in attendance at Pipeline
Green Day Concert w/Business Class Airfare
Week in Kaui
“Under the Lights” Dodgers Packages w/signed baseballs
