James Supercave

Don’t get rid of all the guitars - Andrés Villalobos grew-up in Chula Vista. He has memories his mothers “cleaning the house with Bee Gees just blaring in the kitchen.” The first show he ever attended was Blink-182 at Soma, when it was still down the hill from USD. He recalls that Travis Barker was very new to the band on this evening, and that TSOL and the Ataris opened.

“I remember that was when I decided I wanted to play music. I was like, ‘This is the coolest thing ever. I want to do that. I want to make people go crazy and laugh,’” Villalobos said.

After high school, his love of guitar lead him to study the instrument at the Musicians Institute in Los Angeles. He remained in LA after he finished his course work and began taking on jobs as a hired gun. He was able to go on some national tours, and played concerts opening for national acts such as Kasabian and Mew. After “schlepping around in a van” for a number of years, Villalobos vowed to hold out and work on his own material until he found something that was “really worthwhile.”

An opportunity presented itself one night in Echo Park.

“I met Joaquin (Pastor) at a party for a mutual friend. We started talking about Radiohead and Talking Heads, and we just had a lot in common musically. We decided to get together and he introduced me to Patrick (Logothetti.) We had a rehearsal, and a couple of songs off the album came out of that first meeting,” Villalobos said.

James Supercave was born at this party, and the band is still running strong with the three core members. Their “psychedelic pop” is making waves in Los Angeles, where the band’s recent single “Something To Lose” is number one on KROQ’s Locals Only radio show. They regularly pack smaller clubs up there, and nearly sold-out the Teragram Ballroom (600 occupancy capacity) last fall. All this success and yet, two hours south on Interstate 5, they are still under the radar. According to Villalobos, the band is trying to meet with some of the DJs and music directors at the stations down here to help build their local audience.

It may also be that San Diego’s musical environment isn’t as good a fit for an experimental pop band as the current climate in LA. Villalobos views San Diego’s scene as being more about beach culture singer-songwriters, and rootsy and reggae bands. Villalobos describes the local scene in LA as “grimier” and moving towards “a lot more computers and synths on the stage.”

“It’s cool. I’m really into people starting to push the boundaries of rock, as long as you don’t get rid of all the guitars,” he said.

James Supercave plays Blonde Bar on June 7.