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

The Wasteland Weekend guys

Authentic Sellout finds their place under the sun

Some people play golf on weekends. Not Authentic Sellout.
Some people play golf on weekends. Not Authentic Sellout.

When Authentic Sellout guitarist Christian Borja pens songs, he tends to envision images that correlate with the lyrics. While he was writing “Radiate,” many of these images were post-apocalyptic. Vocalist Sulo King landing the band a gig at Wasteland Weekend was likely a lucky coincidence.

Video:

Authentic Sellout, "Apples & Oranges," August 11, 2017, Soma's Sidestage

“I got wind of [Wasteland Weekend], like, seven years ago in its first conception,” King said. “It was called ‘Road Warrior Weekend’ back then. I found out about it through some people at Comic-Con a few months before it happened because it’s always in September. Someone said, ‘Hey, you’re a huge Mad Max fan. This should be a perfect gig for you.’”

Sponsored
Sponsored

The website for Wasteland Weekend describes it as “a five-day post-apocalyptic festival” that is held in the Mojave Desert. 2017’s location was about 30 miles outside of California City and attracted an estimated 3850 attendees. Realizing they had the perfect setting for shooting a video for “Radiate,” the band hired a video crew to accompany them to the desert. Unfortunately, the plan was nearly derailed due to a packing accident on the eve of their trip.

“Christian was trying to cut a zip-tie off a lantern we had bought at Walmart, and I handed him a knife. The lantern was plastic and the zip-tie was on the handle. So, instead of cutting it off, it slid, and so did the knife. He gashed his hand right in between his thumb and index finger. We had to spend, like, four hours at the ER,” King said.

At the ER, the doctor informed Borja that no tendons had been damaged and that he would be fine. He was given eight stitches, a splint was applied, and the band headed to the desert.

“So, I’m trying to figure out how I’m going to do all these solos without using my thumb,” Borja said. “It was the hardest gig I’ve ever had to do thus far. I’ve had full-blown food poisoning, the flu, an almost-broken foot, but this was by far the hardest to pull off. If you look at the video, I’m basically wearing a full splint on my hand. Everyone thought it was part of my outfit at first.”

When the band arrived at the festival on the second day, they noticed the burned-out carcass of an RV in a spot across from where they were camping. King figured that it was either just a “pretty cool prop” or that people “were just burning cars for fun.” Neither was correct.

“Someone set up an RV and they put their generator too close to the tank on the RV and it exploded. No one was injured, but their whole, brand-new RV, their truck…everything exploded. I can’t help laughing — I heard some lady was in the shower when this was all going on and had to run out of the trailer butt-ass naked while it’s burning to the ground,” King explained.

The latest copy of the Reader

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

Time’s up for Doubletime Recording Studio

Owner Jeff Forrest is trading El Cajon for Portugal
Some people play golf on weekends. Not Authentic Sellout.
Some people play golf on weekends. Not Authentic Sellout.

When Authentic Sellout guitarist Christian Borja pens songs, he tends to envision images that correlate with the lyrics. While he was writing “Radiate,” many of these images were post-apocalyptic. Vocalist Sulo King landing the band a gig at Wasteland Weekend was likely a lucky coincidence.

Video:

Authentic Sellout, "Apples & Oranges," August 11, 2017, Soma's Sidestage

“I got wind of [Wasteland Weekend], like, seven years ago in its first conception,” King said. “It was called ‘Road Warrior Weekend’ back then. I found out about it through some people at Comic-Con a few months before it happened because it’s always in September. Someone said, ‘Hey, you’re a huge Mad Max fan. This should be a perfect gig for you.’”

Sponsored
Sponsored

The website for Wasteland Weekend describes it as “a five-day post-apocalyptic festival” that is held in the Mojave Desert. 2017’s location was about 30 miles outside of California City and attracted an estimated 3850 attendees. Realizing they had the perfect setting for shooting a video for “Radiate,” the band hired a video crew to accompany them to the desert. Unfortunately, the plan was nearly derailed due to a packing accident on the eve of their trip.

“Christian was trying to cut a zip-tie off a lantern we had bought at Walmart, and I handed him a knife. The lantern was plastic and the zip-tie was on the handle. So, instead of cutting it off, it slid, and so did the knife. He gashed his hand right in between his thumb and index finger. We had to spend, like, four hours at the ER,” King said.

At the ER, the doctor informed Borja that no tendons had been damaged and that he would be fine. He was given eight stitches, a splint was applied, and the band headed to the desert.

“So, I’m trying to figure out how I’m going to do all these solos without using my thumb,” Borja said. “It was the hardest gig I’ve ever had to do thus far. I’ve had full-blown food poisoning, the flu, an almost-broken foot, but this was by far the hardest to pull off. If you look at the video, I’m basically wearing a full splint on my hand. Everyone thought it was part of my outfit at first.”

When the band arrived at the festival on the second day, they noticed the burned-out carcass of an RV in a spot across from where they were camping. King figured that it was either just a “pretty cool prop” or that people “were just burning cars for fun.” Neither was correct.

“Someone set up an RV and they put their generator too close to the tank on the RV and it exploded. No one was injured, but their whole, brand-new RV, their truck…everything exploded. I can’t help laughing — I heard some lady was in the shower when this was all going on and had to run out of the trailer butt-ass naked while it’s burning to the ground,” King explained.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

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

Gonzo Report: Jazz jam at a private party

A couple of accidental crashes at California English
Next Article

Live Five: Songwriter Sanctuary, B-Side Players, The Crawdaddys, Saint Luna, Brawley

Reunited, in the round, and onstage in Normal Heights, East Village, Little Italy, Encinitas
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.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader