Parade of Horribles: from Oceanside to Temecula

“My street is super mellow,” says Oceanside singer-bassist Jason York, “and you can just stand in the middle of the road without too much traffic bugging you, other than the people that live here cruising by. I purchased my family home a decade or so ago, so I have a lifetime of musical memories that make it exciting and surreal to still be writing music here. The room where my studio office is now is the same room where I used to Frankenstein weird audio interfaces and cheap software together to try to record, back when I was a new father renting a room from my grandmother. That was almost twenty years ago, so it’s cool to have these same walls and memories be a continual part of our musical journey.”

York is half of rock punk-funk duo Parade of Horribles, alongside drummer Chris Mazzola, who lives in Temecula but grew up around Vista and Oceanside, “back when coast highway was called Hill Street and there were more hookers, drugs, and shady characters around. Living in Temecula now is okay. I like the upkeep and cleanliness of the town, but I wish there were more music venue options.”

Before co-founding Parade of Horribles in 2009, Mazzola says he almost missed out on a music career. “I used to really be into how things worked, the mechanics and inner workings of machinery. Until one time when I was about 10 or 11: I had figured out how to prop up the washing machine door, to see how and what went on when it was running. I had climbed up on top of it and somehow, during the spin-dry cycle, I fell in feet first. Got spun around a few times and then shot out four or five feet across the garage. I switched to music shortly after that. Less dangerous.” Their EP One Mic Massacre: Impromptu Shenanigans, Abject Tomfoolery, and Overindulgent Hoopla was promoted with a video for “Something For Someone” and followed by a new EP in 2019, Perspectival.

The duo are unusually close. “Chris has been married to my sister for twenty years or so,” says York, “so his family is my family. Our kids are cousins, we share a lot of history. We share nonprofit duties for Punk Rock Food Drive.” The nonprofit has raised over 236,000 meals for San Diego food banks since 2009.

Parade of Horribles will soon release their Listen In EP, tracked by Tims Sams of Craft Sounds/Dead Feather Moon. “All the songs were written by Jason and the whole EP is about the Punk Rock Food Drive,” says Mazzola, who satisfies his more visual artistic muse by creating windchimes out of broken drum cymbals. “Friends coming up with an idea and how to make it a reality, spreadsheets tracking spreadsheets, self-abuse in the name of personal growth.”

According to York, “The pandemic delayed recording for a bit as we were feeling out where and when we could get it recorded. We took time on mixing and mastering as we weren’t really playing a ton of shows while the world was shut down.” The Listen In release party happens May 13 at the Pour House in Oceanside, where the bill includes Generator (Bad Religion tribute) and Bakersfield singer-songwriter Matt Salkeld.