Jordan Krimston

The new six-song Jordan Krimston EP All Commodities includes tracks such as “Quiet Conversations,” “Spare Key,” and “Dog in the Manger.” “I recorded these songs at Singing Serpent with Daniel Charlson of Dark Horse Coffee,” says the vet of Big Bad Buffalo and Miss New Buddha. “My buddy AJ Peacox played bass on four of the six tracks, my friend Jordan Cantor [Somme] sang backup on ‘Safe With You,’ and my friend Cheyenne Benton sang backup on the same song and co-wrote the lyrics with me.” Regarding the EP title All Commodities: “I think that during quarantine, a lot of people, including myself, had to take a look at themselves and re-prioritize general life direction. I remember coming to a realization that most things I have an interest in, I had been trying to profit off of and commodify in a sense. Whereas a creative outlet in itself is pure and valid, there’s a lot of social pressure to commodify hobbies and interests these days, which is also valid. But faux-placebo social expectations and response inevitably feels a bit invalidating sometimes. It’s kind of a Catch-22 situation. There’s not really a right or wrong take regarding the subject, but I just wanted to hone on it a bit for the EP. In the year 2021, what are our passions, hobbies, and interests but abstract commodities? I don’t know.” No release event is planned. “I’m currently playing drums for Oso Oso, supporting the Front Bottoms until October 24. Once I’m back in town, I intend to just start recording my next LP.”

Satanic Puppeteer Orchestra

SDSU English Department alumni Michael Buchmiller, aka Professor B. Miller, created the robotic sound of the Satanic Puppeteer Orchestra, an electro-experimental duo pairing him with a singing robot he calls SPO-20, who speaks with a robotic British accent, but doesn’t sing with one. The professor and his robot will release a financially themed album, Balance a Checkbook, on the October 29 anniversary of the Black Tuesday stock market crash of 1929. Number six in a series of 20 themed albums, it will come on clear, laser-etched 12-inch vinyl with a stack of band currency in 10 and 20 denominations, along with two virtual SPO coins. Guests include Marie Haddad singing on “The Invisible Hand,” which is said to be inspired by heist movie soundtracks. Liner notes are by Rusty Blazenhoff, who has worked with Paul Reubens aka Pee-wee Herman, Children’s Fairyland, Burning Man, Boing Boing, Allee Willis, Dangerous Minds, and Archie McPhee. Track titles include “My Legal Signature,” “The Poorest Billionaire,” “Itemized Tax Deductions,” and “Armored Car.” Number seven in the album series will be a metal record called Face Their Fears, number eight is planned to be a ska record, Have an Existential Crisis, and number nine will be an album of original ice cream truck music called A La Mode.

Sluka

Singer-songwriter Christopher Sluka used to run PB’s Javanican Coffeehouse, as well as a Mission Beach branch where he also regularly performed. He has also served as assistant chief instructor for National Air College, Montgomery Field, where he’s an FAA gold-seal-certified flight instructor, with a commercial pilot’s license and over 3000 hours of flight time. Among his albums, most self-released by his own Steel Flower Music label, are Introversions, Ready to Connect, and Colorful Radiation, with the latter reaching number 17 on the Cashbox Rock Chart. He’s kept busy making music through the pandemic, releasing a single and video last year for “VIP,” as well as a single, “Vampire’s Ball,” that came with a video shot at public protests around San Diego mixed with band performance footage. A new Sluka album called Figure It Out is being promoted with a single for “Happy in Your World,” which covers historical events. The album was produced by Grammy-winner Alan Sanderson (Fleetwood Mac, Elton John, Rolling Stones) at local Pacific Beat Recording Studio.

Eddie Vedder

Future Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder was eight when he moved to San Diego in 1973 with his family, including three younger half-brothers. While residing in Encinitas, he lived in a two-story house with a piano that he began practicing on, and his mother gave him a guitar for his twelfth birthday. Living on his own at the age of fifteen and working nights at an Encinitas drug store, he attended San Dieguito High School until his senior year (1982), performing in school plays. After a brief Chicago residence, he returned to San Diego in 1984 and played with several bands, including Surf and Destroy, The Butts, Indian Style (which included future Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave drummer Brad Wilk), and Bad Radio, who once opened for the Lemonheads at the Bacchanal. Now an occasional frontman for Pearl Jam, Vedder released a lyric video for his new solo single, “Long Way,” previewing his upcoming album Earthling, co-produced with Andrew Watt (Ozzy Osbourne, Post Malone). He can also be heard on the soundtrack to the new Sean Penn film Flag Day, working alongside his daughter Olivia Vedder, as well as Irish singer Glen Hansard and Cat Power. Meanwhile, Pearl Jam recently issued 30th and 25th anniversaries of their 1991 debut album Ten, and 1996’s No Code.

Travis Wheeler Bus

Bassist Travis Wheeler first earned local notice as a latter-day member of Vista hard rockers Vudu Fly, as well as punk/metal band Stealth Jackson. In 2016, Wheeler joined transplanted Saint Paul, MN band Avenue Army, fronted by singer-songwriter Max Bergstrom. In March, he joined up with Oregon’s Sleep Signals and embarked on a national tour with P.O.D. and more. Wheeler and several others were in St. Joseph, Missouri recently, sleeping in the tour trailer, when it was hit by a semi-truck. Wheeler suffered the worst injuries, including several broken bones, a fractured arm, a torn right hand, and part of his right foot and three toes on his left foot required amputation. A GoFundMe campaign has been launched to help Wheeler with his recovery and expenses.