Making masks and music for soccer moms

Western-tinged Dani Bell & the Tarantist is yet another band championed by local star Alfred Howard, who performs with the group and signed them to the label he co-owns, Redwoods Music. Singer Dani Bell (Boychick) is frequently backed by the same players from Birdy Bardot (another Howard production). Their dreamy psychedelic soul sound was showcased on a debut full-length called Dark West, released in 2015. The band’s videos for the album feature them wearing commedia dell’arte-style masks. A new EP was released in early 2018, Golden Gloom, recorded on a BOSS Micro BR80 recorder and promoted with a video for the track “Gentleman.” That year, they also played the Bottle Rock Festival in Napa, California. Their sophomore album Wide Eyed was released in 2019, preceded by a single for “Mystery” and sporting cover artwork by John Gourley of Portugal.

Dani Bell & the Tarantist recently signed with Echelon Talent Agency and are planning to tour England and Europe in 2022. They’ll kick off a west coast tour on December 9 at Soda Bar before heading up the coast through December 16 in Seattle, Washington.

Jazzy surf-punk rockers the Gloomies feature Andy Craig, a one-time local who was based in NYC in 2009 when he began a two year stint with psych-pop band Guards, which toured with Alt-J and Cults and played the Coachella, Lollapalooza, and Primavera festivals. In 2013, he launched Sacco, which followed a more hypnotic groove, though that band played its last gig in November 2014 and Craig returned to San Diego to form the Gloomies. They were soon signed to Thrill Me Records, which had a San Diego/NYC axis, with label co-owner Cory Stier (of the band Hideout) based here. Thrill Me has handled other local acts like Mrs. Magician, Lowlands, and Jacob Turnbloom. The debut Gloomies single “LSD” was released in late 2015, earning them a Buzz Band of the Week thumbs-up in NME magazine, as well as nods from Noisey, DIY, and Entertainment Weekly. This year saw the premiere of a new album, Are We Getting Better, preceded by singles for “Moonlight” and “Sick Like You” (both released in late 2019) and “Sideways” (January 2020), while a video was produced for “Nightflight.” A new single just dropped for “Out There,” mixed and mastered by Blake Martz, following up their summer single “I Can See You Now.”

Producer, songwriter, and composer Josquin Des Pres was a founding member of Stress, which for a time included Rough Cutt’s Jimmy Crespo, who’d been Aerosmith’s temporary guitarist while Joe Perry was estranged from that band. He also wrote songs and played bass for Jacqueline Grace, and his Utonium Music label includes artists such as Makayla Phillips, a 2020 American Idol Top 10 contestant and 2021 return performer on that show. “During the lockdown,” says Des Pres, “I started producing a project for French singer Joyce Jonathan, ‘À la vie comme à la mort feat. Jason Mraz.’ We started with a few recording sessions on Zoom, [and] the song went through a variety of stages. The JoNa Music Group writing team joined in [Mraz, Michael and Nancy Natter, Chaska Potter, Tolan Shaw, Fabien Renoult]. Joyce wrote some beautiful French lyrics and, last week, 18 months later, Joyce flew to California and we wrapped up this beautiful song and video in just a few days.” The bi-lingual duet sung in French and English was produced by Des Pres with Jason Mraz, Michael Natter, Yann Macé, and Luc Leroy, and mastered by Barry Rudolph. “The worldwide release date for this Frenglish bilingual gem is November 26th.”

Nickel Creek songwriter and fiddler Sara Watkins signed with Nonesuch Records in 2008 and released her self-titled solo debut, produced by Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones, who has also worked with San Diego’s Diamanda Galas. The album featured star guests such as Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, Elvis Costello drummer Pete Thomas, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers keyboardist Benmont Tench, and Soul Coughing bassist Sebastian Steinberg. Watkins’ group The Scrolls has included her brother and fellow Nickel Creek vet Sean, as well as Glen Phillips (Toad the Wet Sprocket), Davy Faragher (Cracker), Benmont Tench (Tom Petty’s Heartbreakers), Pete Thomas (Elvis Costello’s Attractions), Greg Leisz, and Luke Bulla. When not on the road or in the studio, Watkins guest-stars as fiddler and/or harmony vocalist on albums by Bela Fleck, the Chieftains, Ray LaMontagne, Ben Lee, Dan Wilson, Richard Thompson, and Alex Woodward, among others, as well as occasionally hosting Prairie Home Companion. Watkins is releasing a series of limited edition vinyl exclusives via New West Records, including her solo full-length Young in All the Wrong Ways (pressed on blue with gold swirl vinyl) and a Sara Watkins & The Secret Sisters album called Saturn Return (pink and white marble vinyl).

Based in Oceanside, “Summer Years is rock music,” according to singer-guitarist Nick Lanari. “Pop and punk rock-infused music, but at its core, it’s for anyone who likes to rock and enjoys lots of melody. We definitely operate with the energy and big rhythms of a punk band, but I think we will always be accessible to anyone. Kids who are just getting into guitar music or who have never listened to pop punk. I think our music is for everyone. Even soccer moms.” The band signed with Ecni Records (Beach Goons, The Joy Formidable) and released a new single in July, “This Light,” from an EP due early next year, while a second EP single appeared in October for “The Picture You Paint.” A music video just premiered online for “What You’re Made Of,” the third single from their You Can’t Live There Forever EP, dropping January 7. The EP was produced by Adam Sisco, Chris Szczech, and Mike Liorti, and mixed by Chris Lord Alge (Green Day, The All-American Rejects) and Steve Rizun (NOFX, The Flatliners). The single for “What You’re Made Of” recently appeared on Apple Music’s New In Rock Playlist.