Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

For the Early, For the Late

'We don't have a bass player, but for some reason when people see us for the first time, they think Davida [Milkes] plays bass," says Buzzkill Romantics' singer/guitarist Jason Hee. "I don't know why anyone should be surprised to see a three-piece with a female lead guitarist...Try saying to her, 'You play pretty good for a girl' and see what happens."

The bluesy hard rockers came together in the summer of 2003. Hee was fronting the more pop-oriented Rookie Card, and Milkes was in R&B group SDBO (San Diego Beat Organization). She brought in SDBO alum Charlie Brownell (founding drummer for the Nephews), and by July 2004 they'd made it to the legendary punk club CBGB in New York. "It was a long way from playing Nikki Sixx in a Mötley Crüe cover band," says Hee.

When asked to describe their music, Hee says, "Someone compared us to Urge Overkill...[that] the Nash Kato influence is unmistakable. I have no idea what that's supposed to mean." The Buzzkill Romantics appear Saturday, January 29, at Scolari's Office with the Displaced and the Stereotypes.

WHAT'S IN YOUR CD PLAYER?

Jason Hee

1. The Von Bondies, Lack of Communication ("Angst, sex appeal, swing, electric guitars, and reverb.")

2. The Court and Spark, Bless You ("Moody cosmic American music that's not afraid to take its time.")

3. Royal City, At Rush Hour the Cars ("Clumsy, romantic, and knowingly earnest.")

4. John Coltrane, Giant Steps ("If I had enough time on a desert island, I might be able to figure everything out on this record.")

Sponsored
Sponsored

5. The Beatles, Abbey Road (" 'The End' is pure joy.")

Charlie Brownell

1. Can ("Avant-garde '70s rock.")

2. The Ruins ("Japanese progressive stuff.")

3. Sparks, Kimono My House ("Pop music from 1974.")

4. The Pretty Things ("From London, circa the late '60s.")

Davida Milkes

1. The Church, Priest=Aura

2. Sneaker Pimps, Splinter

3. Television, Marquee Moon

4. The Cure, Disintegration

5. David Bowie, Scary Monsters

FAVORITE DRINK?

Hee Root beer float ("Simply delicious from start to finish.")

Brownell Water ("Or pastis [licorice liquor] for the early and homemade mescal 'tequila from Sonora' for the late.")

Milkes Beer ("Love all beer, and red wine, and vodka.")

FAVORITE MOVIES?

Hee Brazil, Star Wars, Sleeper, This Is Spinal Tap

Brownell Even Dwarves Started Small ("1970, Werner Herzog. If you're reading this, I want my disc back, Alfred -- you shmuck.")

Milkes Lost in Translation, Fahrenheit 9/11, Annie Hall, Love and Death, Naked Gun, This Is Spinal Tap

WORST SONG YOU'VE EVER HEARD?

Hee " 'A Million Years' by Human Drama. They should win some sort of award for how bad this is."

Milkes " 'We Built This City' by Starship. There's so many, but I may have to agree with VH1 on this one."

BEST CELEBRITY ENCOUNTER?

Brownell "Hanging out with Rick Springfield talking music and culture on the set of High Tide [short-lived 1995 TV cop show starring Springfield and shot around San Diego]...we almost did a remake of his early hit 'Speak to the Sky.' I don't think he would have liked it."

Milkes "I worked room service at the Hyatt years ago and met Barry Manilow. Well, actually, I brought him a Caesar salad. Nice guy. No, really."

WEIRDEST GIG?

Hee "Guitar Center parking lot, four o'clock on a Saturday afternoon, to four of our friends. Or the time we played a rockabilly bar in Las Vegas and were told to stop fucking with our pedals and play a song. Or maybe the time we played Humphrey's Backstage Lounge after an evening of acoustic singer/songwriter types -- a tourist tipped us $20."

GINGER OR MARY ANN?

Hee "Mary Ann had a better smile."

Milkes "Neither."

FIRST CONCERT?

Hee "Jackson Browne and David Crosby at the Paramount Theater in Oakland. I was falling asleep, so my mom took us home a few songs into Jackson Browne's set."

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Summit Fellowship wants to be a home of belonging

Unitarian Universalism allows you to be exactly who you are in the moment
Next Article

Croome Brothers Trio, Jack Tempchin, Ricky, Swami & the Bed Of Nails, Kahlil Nash

Acoustic and electric in Del Mar, La Jolla, Little Italy, and City Heights

'We don't have a bass player, but for some reason when people see us for the first time, they think Davida [Milkes] plays bass," says Buzzkill Romantics' singer/guitarist Jason Hee. "I don't know why anyone should be surprised to see a three-piece with a female lead guitarist...Try saying to her, 'You play pretty good for a girl' and see what happens."

The bluesy hard rockers came together in the summer of 2003. Hee was fronting the more pop-oriented Rookie Card, and Milkes was in R&B group SDBO (San Diego Beat Organization). She brought in SDBO alum Charlie Brownell (founding drummer for the Nephews), and by July 2004 they'd made it to the legendary punk club CBGB in New York. "It was a long way from playing Nikki Sixx in a Mötley Crüe cover band," says Hee.

When asked to describe their music, Hee says, "Someone compared us to Urge Overkill...[that] the Nash Kato influence is unmistakable. I have no idea what that's supposed to mean." The Buzzkill Romantics appear Saturday, January 29, at Scolari's Office with the Displaced and the Stereotypes.

WHAT'S IN YOUR CD PLAYER?

Jason Hee

1. The Von Bondies, Lack of Communication ("Angst, sex appeal, swing, electric guitars, and reverb.")

2. The Court and Spark, Bless You ("Moody cosmic American music that's not afraid to take its time.")

3. Royal City, At Rush Hour the Cars ("Clumsy, romantic, and knowingly earnest.")

4. John Coltrane, Giant Steps ("If I had enough time on a desert island, I might be able to figure everything out on this record.")

Sponsored
Sponsored

5. The Beatles, Abbey Road (" 'The End' is pure joy.")

Charlie Brownell

1. Can ("Avant-garde '70s rock.")

2. The Ruins ("Japanese progressive stuff.")

3. Sparks, Kimono My House ("Pop music from 1974.")

4. The Pretty Things ("From London, circa the late '60s.")

Davida Milkes

1. The Church, Priest=Aura

2. Sneaker Pimps, Splinter

3. Television, Marquee Moon

4. The Cure, Disintegration

5. David Bowie, Scary Monsters

FAVORITE DRINK?

Hee Root beer float ("Simply delicious from start to finish.")

Brownell Water ("Or pastis [licorice liquor] for the early and homemade mescal 'tequila from Sonora' for the late.")

Milkes Beer ("Love all beer, and red wine, and vodka.")

FAVORITE MOVIES?

Hee Brazil, Star Wars, Sleeper, This Is Spinal Tap

Brownell Even Dwarves Started Small ("1970, Werner Herzog. If you're reading this, I want my disc back, Alfred -- you shmuck.")

Milkes Lost in Translation, Fahrenheit 9/11, Annie Hall, Love and Death, Naked Gun, This Is Spinal Tap

WORST SONG YOU'VE EVER HEARD?

Hee " 'A Million Years' by Human Drama. They should win some sort of award for how bad this is."

Milkes " 'We Built This City' by Starship. There's so many, but I may have to agree with VH1 on this one."

BEST CELEBRITY ENCOUNTER?

Brownell "Hanging out with Rick Springfield talking music and culture on the set of High Tide [short-lived 1995 TV cop show starring Springfield and shot around San Diego]...we almost did a remake of his early hit 'Speak to the Sky.' I don't think he would have liked it."

Milkes "I worked room service at the Hyatt years ago and met Barry Manilow. Well, actually, I brought him a Caesar salad. Nice guy. No, really."

WEIRDEST GIG?

Hee "Guitar Center parking lot, four o'clock on a Saturday afternoon, to four of our friends. Or the time we played a rockabilly bar in Las Vegas and were told to stop fucking with our pedals and play a song. Or maybe the time we played Humphrey's Backstage Lounge after an evening of acoustic singer/songwriter types -- a tourist tipped us $20."

GINGER OR MARY ANN?

Hee "Mary Ann had a better smile."

Milkes "Neither."

FIRST CONCERT?

Hee "Jackson Browne and David Crosby at the Paramount Theater in Oakland. I was falling asleep, so my mom took us home a few songs into Jackson Browne's set."

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Reader Music Issue short takes

Obervatory's mosh pit, frenetic Rafael Payare, Lemonhead chaos, bleedforthescene, Coronado Tasting Room
Next Article

San Diego's Uptown Planners challenged by renters from Vibrant Uptown

Two La Jolla planning groups fight for predominance
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.